N.B. electric vehicle rebate ending this summer, advocate calls it disappointing

Sam Farley · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 11:45 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The state has announced that its electrical conveyance rebate of up to $5,000, for fully electrical and hybrid vehicles, volition extremity connected July 1.

The determination comes aft the national rebate for zero-emission vehicles was halted successful January.

The program, which is tally done N.B. Power, is inactive unfastened to applications arsenic agelong arsenic the conveyance is purchased by June 30, a news release said. 

But arsenic the programme ends, electrical conveyance proprietor and advocator Carl Duivenvoorden volition beryllium bittersweet to spot it go.

"Obviously I'm disappointed due to the fact that I deliberation it's been a truly bully programme for helping beforehand the uptake of EVs," Duivenvoorden said, speaking to Shift on CBC Radio.

He pointed to rebates like this arsenic being the crushed for precocious adoption successful different places, specified as British Columbia, Quebec, Norway and China.

It was palmy successful New Brunswick due to the fact that it was applied astatine the clip of acquisition and dealerships handled the paperwork, Duivenvoorden said. 

"So it became really, truly casual for New Brunswickers to instrumentality vantage of."

The state was besides palmy successful achieving six per cent of airy vehicles sold being electric, "which is truly bully due to the fact that I deliberation successful the aboriginal days possibly we were lagging a small bit. So that's good," Duivenvoorden said. 

But that's inactive a debased percent helium said, and portion prices for utilized electrical vehicles person decreased, "they are not rather astatine parity yet and that is inactive a important obstruction for people."

There are present astir 7,000 electrical vehicles successful New Brunswick, and with "prices falling and expected to yet scope parity with accepted gas-powered vehicles, electrical vehicles are becoming a much affordable option," the state said. 

While the rebate had helped galore New Brunswickers get into the market, the state is present turning its attraction to improving charging infrastructure, said Finance Minister René Legacy, successful the news release.

"We anticipation that our committedness to backing much charging stations crossed New Brunswick volition promote continued electrical conveyance income and code the concerns related to scope anxiety," Legacy said, adding that much details would beryllium released "in the adjacent future."