Electric vehicle rebate program building momentum in New Brunswick

Drive Electric NB and the New Brunswick Lung Association’s rebate program is officially back.

New Brunswickers can now receive a $1,000 rebate towards the purchase of a new or used electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid vehicle, when you trade in your gas-powered car.

Any EV or PHEV purchased within this fiscal year (April 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019) is eligible for the program.

In 2016, the New Brunswick Lung Association released a report which outlines a strategy to adopt electric vehicles, reduce GHG emissions, and improve air quality in New Brunswick.

The report – An Electric Vehicle Roadmap for New Brunswick – highlights that New Brunswick has the third-highest per capita carbon pollution emissions in Canada. Our province has committed to reducing these emissions by 10 per cent by 2020, but in order to achieve this goal, the province needs some big changes.

New Brunswick’s transportation sector is currently responsible for 30 per cent of overall emissions. In New Brunswick’s Transition to a Low Carbon Economy, the provincial government agreed to work toward having 2,500 electric vehicles on the road in New Brunswick by 2020, and 20,000 by 2030.

Replacing conventional vehicles with electric vehicles in New Brunswick could reduce vehicle-related GHG emissions by up to 75 per cent, the report says. It would also help our province meet it’s emissions reduction target by 2020.

The rebate program was introduced as a way to increase public adoption of EVs, while reducing price differentiation between electric and conventional vehicles.

The Conservation Council recognizes an opportunity for improvement prompted by the growing interest in electric vehicles. In our 2016 report, A Climate Action Plan for New Brunswick, we provide recommendations for the province to successfully transition to a low-carbon economy.

Among those recommendations, we suggested New Brunswick set a target of 10,000 EVs on the road by 2020. To accelerate the sale of energy efficient vehicles, New Brunswick should encourage consumers to purchase energy-efficient vehicles now to keep their operating costs low once the carbon pricing regime takes effect, the report says.

The goal of this recommendation is to generate an additional 1 million tonnes of emissions reductions by 2030.

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There has never been a better time to transition to an electric vehicle! For more information, contact the New Brunswick Lung Association.

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