As electric vehicle rebates expand, Ontario falls behind

With gas prices sky high on this Earth Day, it is becoming increasingly difficult for drivers to get behind the wheel of electric vehicles.

Currently five percent of all new vehicle sales in Canada are electric, but 80 per cent of all electric vehicles sold in Canada are sold in either Quebec or British Columbia.

In Ontario, electric vehicle sales were up three per cent in 2021, which is below the national average.

"Right now half of the dealerships across the country don't have a single EV in stock," says Joanna Kyriazis, the clean transportation program manager at Clean Energy Canada.

"[British Columbia and Quebec are] where a majority of the EV inventory goes, where auto makers send a lot of their EV's, and where auto makers tend to launch their new EV makes and models," Kyriazis tells CTV News.

She says that due to two factors: both provinces have electric vehicle sales mandates and consumer rebate programs.

"British Columbia saw 12 per cent of new car sales being electric last year. Quebec it was nine per cent."

Currently Ontario does not have either a rebate program for buyers or a sales quota for dealerships. Premier Doug Ford scrapped the program after taking power.

On Friday, the federal government announced an expansion to the federal electric vehicle rebate program to include minivans, SUV's, and light duty pick-up trucks. The rebate will pay back up to $5,000 to electric vehicle purchasers that qualify.

Those still in the market for an electric vehicle have a long wait ahead of them with inventory lagging anywhere for six to 18 months.

At Urban Ford in Arnprior, Ont., they only sell one type of electric vehicle - the Mustang Mach-E.

"The demand went so quick they can't keep up," says Ricky Vermette, parts manager at Urban Ford.

"We haven't had a lot in stock to be test driven, so a lot of people are just buying them right on the spot as soon as they come in."

With gas prices only going up as of late, Vermette says if they had more electric vehicles on the lot, they would be already be sold.

"We're so close to Ottawa, people are driving back and forth, and the ability to drive without filling up with fuel is big now."

The federal government also announced a new goal of 20 per cent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2026. Kyriazis says infrastructure will have to come a long way to meet that target as well.

"The federal has set a target of having 50,000 EV charging stations installed across the country in the next few years," says Kyriazis. "Right now we're at 15,000."