Lets hope they put a minimum range on EV's to qualify for the incentive with the new federal budget in the 19th. I would like to see a minimum range of 300KM and an increase to 10K for the incentive.
Incentives being capped by purchase price is so dumb. It's clear they're catering to the myopic crowd that doesn't want to see the rich get breaks from the government. Replacing one gas guzzling Maserati with a Model S Plaid does more environmental good than replacing one fuel sipping Civic with a M3 SR+. Especially annoying as one of the greater reasons for the increase in price of EVs is larger battery capacity which equals a more useful and versatile vehicle in our northern climate and the great distances some of us need to cover (i.e. those not in the lower mainland of BC or the GTA).
As a compromise I feel an incentive should reward long range and penalize high cost. This gives manufacturers both an incentive to increase range as well as to reduce the retail price. For example, make the rebate $15/km range. Then reduce the rebate by 1% for every $1k over $50k. This would mean full rebate of $15 x range for vehicles $50K and less and $0 rebates for any vehicle over $150k.
Some examples (my pricing is a few months old, forgive any recent price changes) rounded down to the nearest $100:
Model | EV Range | Starting Retail | Proposed Rebate
Pacifica Touring-L Plus | 51 km | $55,234 | $700
Prius Prime | 62 km | $33,500 | $900
Bolt LT | 417 km | $44,998 | $6,200
I-Pace S | 377 km | $91,000 | $3,300
Model 3 SR+ | 423 km | $52,990 | $6,100
Model 3 LR | 568 km | $64,990 | $7,200
Model 3 P | 507 km | $74,990 | $5,700
Model S LR | 663 km | $114,990 | $3,400
Model S Plaid | 628 km | $159,990 | $0
To me, this looks far more functional at getting ICE vehicles off the road than the current iZEV program. The sweet spot is maximum range at around $50k. Also gives some reward to PHEVs but far greater rewards to BEVs, which is as it should be. One could adjust the variables to fit whatever you desire, the point is reward range and penalize high price.