Week #2: Building Ontario's Environmental Plan - BEV vs. GOV
A major and key environmental initiative in reducing Ontario's GHG emissions will be incentivizing vehicle consumers to purchase Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) versus Gas Oil Vehicles (GOV), which the current government is not willing to do and should be based on Norway's long term BEV plan that started in the 1990s. Norway is one of the leading countries today in GHG reductions thanks to governmental long term BEV planning....not promises
September 2021, Norway's BEV vehicles accounted for 78% of total car sales, and if you include hybrids and plug-in hybrids the total share of electric vehicles sold was 92% and only 8% GOVs. How did they do this?
1. BEVs are exempt or a tax reduction from import tax, registration fee, company car tax. This incentive enables BEV's to be price competitive against GOVs
2. A value-added tax increase of up to 25% on GOVs and zero for BEVs
3. BEVs exempt from tolls
4. BEVs free parking in downtown areas of cities
5. BEVs are allowed to use bus lanes
The goal is by 2025 that no new combustion engine vehicles (GOV) will be sold in Norway. Norway's BEVs incentives were not just for the upper-to-income earners but for all income earners.
With an Ontario provincial election in 2022, the current government should reconsider and put forward a BEV incentive plan For the People of Ontario. This is an environmental initiative that will definitely be on the Environmental Plan For the People of Ontario when we present these eco-initiatives to the Ontario party leaders.