Canadian Politics Today

Just an anecdote.

I recently had a sizeable maintenance bill for my conventional gasoline car. I decided to start kicking the tires on a new PHEV or Complete EV. I already own another conventional Hybrid.

Almost all EVs on the market are north of $50,000. With most being closer to $70,000 or more.

What's more affordable is a PHEV which gives you an electric charge for a modest distance (30-50kms or so) then it becomes a conventional Hybrid. In Ontario those cars qualify for a Green Plate which allows you to use HOV lanes solo for free. Conventional Hybrids don't qualify for a Green Plate.

I've never actually purchased a new car. I always either leased or bought cars off of a lease, which are still well maintained with relatively low kms. But I always thought the benefit for buying new is the good financing terms.

No so with these "Green" cars! The Feds give $5,000 or $2,500 respectively but you never really appreciate that because it's baked into the offer(and applicable to Sales Tax!!!!).

The lowest rate for a Green Car I saw was 2.5%. For Toyota's Prius you had a rate closer to 5%. For that rate, you might as well find a used car and finance with a Line of Credit or something.

A salesmen basically said that the demand is too high and the supply too low for us to offer an appealing rate.

If car companies and governments were serious about us reducing carbon, they'd make it way more appealing to buy such cars. Stop making gas guzzling SUVs and increase the supply of Green cars.