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Tesla buyers out of pocket after Ontario cancels electric-car rebates
GREG KEENAN AUTO AND STEEL AND AIRLINE INDUSTRY REPORTER
PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO
UPDATED JULY 13, 2018FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Ontario buyers of Tesla’s Model 3 sedan who are still waiting for their cars to be delivered have a difficult choice after the province’s new government cancelled a rebate program for buyers of electric vehicles – fork out $14,000 or give up on a car they have been waiting years to drive.
The new government of Doug Ford cancelled the electric- and hydrogen-vehicle incentive program – which provided $14,000 to buyers of Tesla Inc. cars – as part of its elimination of Ontario’s cap-and-trade emissions-reduction system. Revenue from cap and trade financed the electric-vehicle rebates.
Background on cap and trade
GLOBE PRIMER45 SEC READ
The cancellation applies to all vehicles for which a rebate was offered, but vehicles on dealer lots or ordered from manufacturers by July 11 are still eligible for the refund if delivered, registered and given licence plates by Sept. 10.
But the rules are different for Tesla buyers. The catch is that Tesla does not have traditional dealerships with cars sitting on lots waiting to be picked up, but instead delivers directly to customers.
That means Tesla customers whose vehicles have been ordered but were not delivered by Wednesday will not receive the rebate. Ministry of Transportation spokesman Bob Nichols confirmed that the rebate will not apply, saying the two-month wind-down of the program was put in place to minimize impact to car dealerships.
“Given that Tesla do not operate on a dealership model, the wind-down approach to mitigate impacts to dealerships does not apply to them,” Mr. Nichols said.
Ross Kirkconnell, a health-care professional who lives in Guelph, Ont., was expecting delivery of his Tesla 3 on July 30. It would have been his first new car.
Mr. Kirkconnell put down a $1,000 deposit when he ordered the car 18 months ago and another $3,200 when he made his order final in May. He spent another $1,763 to buy a home charger and have it installed.
“I was really excited about leading-edge, clean technology,” he said in an e-mail on Friday. “So now I’m holding the bag. Do I continue driving my 2008 car that uses premium gas? I can’t justify the extra $14,000 and wouldn’t have even ordered if this wasn’t available.”
The Model 3 starts at $45,600 with an all-wheel-drive performance model offered for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $84,800.
Zenon Shevciw of Toronto is one of more than 20 Tesla buyers who contacted The Globe and Mail on Friday criticizing the government for excluding them from the two-month grace period that applies to purchasers of electric vehicles from other car companies who will take delivery before Sept. 10.
Mr. Shevciw ordered his Model 3 on June 27.
“I believe this was done specifically to target Tesla buyers as they buy directly from the manufacturer, especially as Premier Ford has referred to Tesla owners as ‘downtown liberals’ and ‘millionaires,’ ” Mr. Shevciw said in an e-mail. “This is simply not true … For most of us, the rebate is the difference between affordability and non-affordability. Many of us have ordered this car in good faith, placing a $4,200 non-refundable deposit.”
Tesla salespeople told buyers on Friday that the company will refund their $4,200 deposits.
David Brassor of Barrie, Ont., whose wife made a $1,000 deposit with Tesla as a Father’s Day gift to him in 2016, placed his final order on June 11.
He has a Tesla wall charger sitting in his house waiting to be installed.
“I will be putting the install on hold until I figure out what I am doing re: the car,” he said.
Several buyers e-mailed to The Globe Twitter exchanges they had with @fordnation, Mr. Ford’s Twitter account and the Twitter account of his campaign, in which they were told that if they ordered their cars before June 29, they would still receive the rebate.
GREG KEENAN AUTO AND STEEL AND AIRLINE INDUSTRY REPORTER
PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO
UPDATED JULY 13, 2018FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Ontario buyers of Tesla’s Model 3 sedan who are still waiting for their cars to be delivered have a difficult choice after the province’s new government cancelled a rebate program for buyers of electric vehicles – fork out $14,000 or give up on a car they have been waiting years to drive.
The new government of Doug Ford cancelled the electric- and hydrogen-vehicle incentive program – which provided $14,000 to buyers of Tesla Inc. cars – as part of its elimination of Ontario’s cap-and-trade emissions-reduction system. Revenue from cap and trade financed the electric-vehicle rebates.
Background on cap and trade
GLOBE PRIMER45 SEC READ
The cancellation applies to all vehicles for which a rebate was offered, but vehicles on dealer lots or ordered from manufacturers by July 11 are still eligible for the refund if delivered, registered and given licence plates by Sept. 10.
But the rules are different for Tesla buyers. The catch is that Tesla does not have traditional dealerships with cars sitting on lots waiting to be picked up, but instead delivers directly to customers.
That means Tesla customers whose vehicles have been ordered but were not delivered by Wednesday will not receive the rebate. Ministry of Transportation spokesman Bob Nichols confirmed that the rebate will not apply, saying the two-month wind-down of the program was put in place to minimize impact to car dealerships.
“Given that Tesla do not operate on a dealership model, the wind-down approach to mitigate impacts to dealerships does not apply to them,” Mr. Nichols said.
Ross Kirkconnell, a health-care professional who lives in Guelph, Ont., was expecting delivery of his Tesla 3 on July 30. It would have been his first new car.
Mr. Kirkconnell put down a $1,000 deposit when he ordered the car 18 months ago and another $3,200 when he made his order final in May. He spent another $1,763 to buy a home charger and have it installed.
“I was really excited about leading-edge, clean technology,” he said in an e-mail on Friday. “So now I’m holding the bag. Do I continue driving my 2008 car that uses premium gas? I can’t justify the extra $14,000 and wouldn’t have even ordered if this wasn’t available.”
The Model 3 starts at $45,600 with an all-wheel-drive performance model offered for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $84,800.
Zenon Shevciw of Toronto is one of more than 20 Tesla buyers who contacted The Globe and Mail on Friday criticizing the government for excluding them from the two-month grace period that applies to purchasers of electric vehicles from other car companies who will take delivery before Sept. 10.
Mr. Shevciw ordered his Model 3 on June 27.
“I believe this was done specifically to target Tesla buyers as they buy directly from the manufacturer, especially as Premier Ford has referred to Tesla owners as ‘downtown liberals’ and ‘millionaires,’ ” Mr. Shevciw said in an e-mail. “This is simply not true … For most of us, the rebate is the difference between affordability and non-affordability. Many of us have ordered this car in good faith, placing a $4,200 non-refundable deposit.”
Tesla salespeople told buyers on Friday that the company will refund their $4,200 deposits.
David Brassor of Barrie, Ont., whose wife made a $1,000 deposit with Tesla as a Father’s Day gift to him in 2016, placed his final order on June 11.
He has a Tesla wall charger sitting in his house waiting to be installed.
“I will be putting the install on hold until I figure out what I am doing re: the car,” he said.
Several buyers e-mailed to The Globe Twitter exchanges they had with @fordnation, Mr. Ford’s Twitter account and the Twitter account of his campaign, in which they were told that if they ordered their cars before June 29, they would still receive the rebate.
I've noticed you're not adding this type of comment to anti Ford posts.
Except their is a flaw in your logic.
I did purchase that Sony TV... it's on order, coming any day and now I am being told by Best Buy sorry you need to pay full price.
Nope. Not saying they should. I’m saying if Sony did I wouldn’t bitch. I’d think good on them for pushing back.
For me it just feels like at this point we are beating a dead horse in regards to getting the rebate and without that, I'm not prepared to proceed for the time being. I've done my part. I've emailed McKenna, my MPP and both reporters and was at least partially responsible for the last paragraph in the globe article but asked to be kept anonymous.
I am more than happy to continue the fight but I don't expect it will have an impact in regards to the rebate. I believe the answer now is in the hands of the feds. I have many things to say about the Ontario PC party but that would be getting way off topic.
I also didn't want to risk a scenario where a VIN was issued much earlier than anticipated.
I also would prefer the AWD model. Not for myself as I think the RWD would actually be a lot of fun but to address my wife's comfort levels.
My next vehicle will be a Tesla, one way or another. This experience has only further entrenched me in the Tesla family and originally I was considering other EV's. If the Volvo XC40 EV had been available, I may not have even considered Tesla. So from an N=1 perspective, if this was some plot against Tesla, it has failed miserably.
Chill dude. I bought a model 3 too but the rebate ending has nothing to do with Tesla. It’s not their fault. It’s the Ford government. It was insanely generous therefore doomed to go. I have driven a leaf for nearly two years while I waited for my Tesla and if the rebate is gone it sucks but it’s not something to be shocked about. It’s a very expensive car with or without the rebate.
If you can afford the long range AWD model 3 with the $14k rebate, than you can afford the standard range, rear wheel drive Model 3 without the $14k
You still can justify the purchase. Just buy the standard range rear wheel drive
It was widely known Ford would win and it was also widely known he'd kill the plan. Greed/gamble caused many Ontarioans to hold off buying the rear wheel drive for the AWD version. They lost the bet
Canuck
Well-Known Member
I wonder if Ford would have cancelled a $5k rebate? It still amazes me that Trump never cancelled their $7.5k federal rebate but it did come close with their last budget and one house removing it. I hate to say it but Trump looking better than Trudeau on the EV rebate issue. Trudeau talks a good game on environmental issues but has no substance at all to him -- there's no federal rebate -- he gives $3.3B to big oil despite his promises on climate change, and he wants more tax money from me to buy pipelines. A small federal rebate (a tiny of fraction of what he gives to big oil) would show at least some concrete attempt to combat global warming -- action not words! But not from him - he was in the pocket of big oil from the start.
Every province should have a $5k rebate, and federally we should have a $7.5k rebate if we were even remotely serious about moving to EVs to try to combat climate change, or at least make the air we breath better. That's actually piddly compared to what some Scandinavian countries have done with EV incentives -- they make us look like we live in the dark ages.
Every province should have a $5k rebate, and federally we should have a $7.5k rebate if we were even remotely serious about moving to EVs to try to combat climate change, or at least make the air we breath better. That's actually piddly compared to what some Scandinavian countries have done with EV incentives -- they make us look like we live in the dark ages.
McMuggets
Member
Not sure if mentioned before, but if you do a direct USD to CAD exchange rate right now, Canada is getting a nice discount anyway based on current pricing. That discount may not last once Trump gives NAFTA the shafta.
Just sayin’ is all.
Just sayin’ is all.
I had a nissan leaf before and put deposit for model 3 very first day. End of last year I got nervous for evip as I wanted awd. That's when I cancel my m3 booking and bought model s instead.
pcons
M3 AWD+
Not sure what you are calling a 'nice discount', but the AWD with no options is 64,100 in Canada, in the US its 53,000 USD. 64,100 CAD is currently 52,677 USD....so only a 323 discount. Agreed most cars are much more in Canada than the same model in the US, so maybe that's what you were referring to?
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