British Columbia Organization To Offer EV Incentive Plan

Scrap-It, a non-profit society, is offering British Columbians a $3,250 rebate to trade in old vehicles for electric cars which the group says will work in conjunction with a soon-to-be-announced provincial government initiative.

"It's got to a point where there are a lot of electric vehicles out there and we thought people with older cars could find this appealing now," said Dennis Rogoza, Chief Executive Officer of Scrap-It.

The organization plans to give British Columbia residents a rebate when they trade in a car made on or before 2000 for one of eleven different kinds of electric vehicles.

"British Columbians who purchase electric vehicles typically save about 75 percent on their fuel costs. That adds up to $1,600 per year," said Energy Minister Bill Bennett. However, the ministry says electric vehicles are about 25 percent more expensive than other vehicles. "The Clean Energy Vehicle program will provide a new incentive that will help British Columbians purchase electric vehicles," said Bennett.

Money for the provincial initiative will come from the $10.5 million set aside in the recent provincial budget. Under the plan, $7.5 million would be spent on point-of-sale incentives, and dealer and sales staff incentives for electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. There is $1.5 million available for vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure and $1 million to help fleets adopt carbon emissions-based vehicle schemes [CEVs]. Another $500,000 has been set aside for research.

The initiative between the the government and Scrap-It is aimed at reducing vehicle emissions. The organization has been working to cut emissions since 1996. During that time about 37,600 old cars have been retired through the program.

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