5 Benefits You Get With An EV in British Columbia

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been getting more and more popular each year. While it may still seem like a big investment upfront for most of us to purchase an EV at this time, there are so many benefits that come with buying one. We’ve listed down 5 perks that come with purchasing an EV here in British Columbia (BC).

An important thing to note is that there are quite a few vehicles that fall under the general “EV” category. There are different kinds of benefits for the different kinds of EVs. These three are:

• Battery electric vehicles (BEV/EV)
• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV)
• Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicles (FCEV)

Perk #1: Federal iZEV Incentive

Image from hyundai.ca

The Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program was launched by the Government of Canada last May 2019 to encourage the public to purchase vehicles that produce no tailpipe emissions in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Here are the rebates you will receive when you purchase or lease an eligible vehicle:*

Eligible new vehicles include models with 6 seats or less with a base model MSRP of $45,000 or less and vehicles with 7 or more seats with a base model MSRP of $55,000 or less. The Government of Canada’s website has a breakdown of the full list of eligible vehicles.

Getting this incentive applied is easy and hassle-free. There is no need to worry about paperwork as will be automatically applied by the dealership you will be purchasing from at the point-of-sale. For more information on this incentive, you can visit The Government of Canada’s official website.

Perk #2: Provincial CleanBC Go Electric Rebate

Image from City of Vancouver

The New Car Dealers Association of BC also has its own rebate program in addition to the federal incentive program. This allows you to save even more when you purchase your EV in BC.

Here are the rebates you will receive when you purchase or lease an eligible vehicle:*

To qualify for this rebate, the vehicle must be brand new and have an MSRP of $55,000 or less.

Just like the Federal iZEV incentive, this rebate will also be automatically applied by your dealership at the point-of-sale. You can visit the New Car Dealers Association of BC’s website for a complete list of eligible vehicles and more information about the rebate program.

Perk #3: BC SCRAP-IT Program

The BC SCRAP-IT Program was created with the goal to remove older and high-polluting vehicles from the road. With the program, you can scrap your old vehicle and receive a rebate when you purchase a new EV from participating dealerships.

To participate in the program (and to see if your vehicle is qualified), you simply have to follow the 5 Step EV Ownership instructions and fill out an application form. From there, you will receive your rebate via electronic funds transfer.

At the moment, OpenRoad has 8 dealerships that are partnered with the BC SCRAP-IT Program: OpenRoad Hyundai Boundary, OpenRoad Hyundai Richmond, OpenRoad Toyota Port Moody, OpenRoad Volkswagen Burnaby, The BMW Store, MINI Langley, and MINI Vancouver.

Perk #4: HOV Access

Image from Go Electric BC

Sitting in traffic is never fun, especially during rush hour. Luckily, EV owners displaying an official decal are allowed to use the provincial highway and municipal high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes at any time (unless there are signs posted otherwise).

Perk #5: Reserved Parking Slots & Charging Stations

Image from Go Electric BC

Finding parking within Metro Vancouver can sometimes be a challenge. However, there have been more and more parking slots reserved exclusively for EV cars as well as charging stations for your convenience. With your EV, finding parking just became less of a task and more of an advantage since you can charge up your vehicles too!

With all of these perks available, consider purchasing an EV for your next vehicle. You can contact any of our OpenRoad locations to see which EVs they have in stock for you.

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