To the editor,
It’s good to see that others share my feelings about subsidizing electric vehicles (“Where’s my free gas?”, Dec. 8).
Back when the government put rebates on EVs, I wondered why. If EVs were $15,000 or $20,000, I can see where a $5,000 rebate would make an unaffordable purchase more affordable. But let’s face it, if you can afford a $60,000 vehicle, then an extra $5,000 is not a deciding factor. This rebate is just more taxpayer dollars wasted, being paid by those who could not afford the vehicles in the first place.
I completely agree with Mr. Wilson about the charging stations; they should not be subsidized with tax dollars from any level of government. Privatization would create some jobs and make the cost per charge more realistic. I imagine that on a “whatever the market can bear” basis, $50 or $75 per charge would not be unreasonable.
On a side note, there is only one charging station in Wingham on the main street, and it seems that it is reserved for one particular vehicle. Whenever you drive by, it seems that that same vehicle is charging. Since the supposed main purpose of this station is for the convenience of visitors to Wingham, it appears to be essentially unavailable. Why not make the municipally-subsidized charging stations off-limits to local residents with a substantial fine for abuse?
Finally, why are these luxury vehicles road tax exempt? They put the same amount of wear and tear – perhaps more, as they tend to be heavier units – on our roads as normal vehicles where the tax is part of the fuel tax structure. An average 24,000km/year driver pays about $1,000 in road tax. This tax could easily have been collected on EVs at licence sticker renewal time, but now we don’t even have that.
Vil Jerva
Brussels
