Electric vehicle rebate among staff proposals to speed up Toronto’s target to become a carbon neutral city
The first municipal rebates on electric vehicles will help fund ‘green’ transit
A proposal to pay staff across the city to buy electric vehicles — and fund the purchase of a new charging station — was approved.
Council will vote on the plan in October, and it is expected to get a majority.
“There are a few things to be aware of,” Councillor Joe Mihevc told the Star in an interview Thursday.
“The rebate is meant to get people to look at electric vehicles. The rebate is a financial incentive, and people will buy a vehicle.
“The second thing to note is that the rebate will help with funding infrastructure. We need to look at our infrastructure, especially for transit. We need to look at how we can build more subways and better buses and streetcars.”
Mohydvc said the new charge-point plan is a “step in the right direction,” but cautioned that the rebate is only one part of the overall strategy.
“As we start to put in more electric-vehicle charging stations, we need to make sure that we don’t turn people off from the public infrastructure.
“We don’t need to put the charging station up overnight and hope that people will find a way to get charging stations installed.”
“There’s lots of different ways we can do that,” he said. “That rebate has a lot of different features, but it’s not the only measure.”
Mihevc said he is “a big proponent of the technology and the vehicle,” and believes electric vehicles will play an increasingly important role in the future of Toronto.
“I’ve been very, very impressed with the technology and the vehicle,” he said. “The other thing that I’ve been impressed with is how well the industry’s been able to handle the transition to electric vehicles — the supply issues.
“It’s quite an achievement.”
To date, the city has announced a series of incentives to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles.
The city has offered loans, rebates and tax credits, among other incentives, to help with the purchase.