Electric vehicles more affordable under new incentive plan

Buying an electricvehicle is about to get a littleeasier and a lotcheaper.

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.

Scrap-It plans to give B.C. residents a rebate when they trade in a car made on or before 2000 for one of 11 different kinds of electricvehicles

The government will make an announcement detailing plans to reintroduce the Clean Energy Vehicle Program on Monday, saidEnergy Minister Bill Bennett.

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"British Columbians who purchase electricvehicles typically save about 75 percent on their fuel costs. That adds up to $1,600 per year," Bennett said.

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 to be announced Monday will come from the$10.5 million set aside in the recent provincial budget.

Under the plan,$7.5 million would be spent onpoint-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 fuelling infrastructure and$1 million to help fleets adopt carbon emissions-based vehicleschemes [CEVs]. Another $500,000 has been set aside for research.

The initiative between thethe government and Scrap-It is aimed atreducingvehicleemissions.

Scrap-It has been working to cut emissions since 1996. During that time about 37,600 old cars have been retired through the program.