While demand for all-electric vehicles, in general, has slowed across the globe as of late, that isn’t necessarily true of every country. Rather, in places like Norway and Canada, new vehicle shoppers are gravitating toward EVs in throes, much of which stems from substantial tax credits and incentives designed to do precisely that. However, in Canada, the Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program was set to expire no later than March 2025 – though Transport Canada just decided to pause it ahead of that date, leaving shoppers in limbo. Now, Ford is among a handful of automakers that will continue to offer customers the same incentive for a limited time.
According to Automotive News Canada, Ford – along with General Motors, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Hyundai – will provide customers with the same $5,000 purchase rebate for qualifying electrified models, at least, through the end of January in most cases. Ford plans to provide its shoppers with $5,000 off the purchase of a new Ford Mustang Mach-E, Ford F-150 Lightning, or Ford Escape PHEV, plus $2,500 off the Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring through the conclusion of the month.
Earlier this month, Transport Canada announced that it would be pausing the iZEV program, and at that time, it had around $70 million remaining in the program’s funding pool. That money was expected to last several weeks, but instead, shoppers flooded the agency with claims, draining those resources in mere hours. Transport Canada did note that it could reopen the iZEV program in April, but for now, there are no guarantees. Ford stated that its temporary rebates are “not intended to permanently replace the iZEV program,” and asked Transport Canada to reinstate its rebates “as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S., it’s possible that newly minted President Donald Trump will kill off the federal clean energy tax credit as well, though the Ford-backed lobby group Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI) has asked him to retain it. Ford CEO Jim Farley also recently stated that the company’s under construction EV plants “depend on the production credit.”
No Comments yet