Electric vehicle rebate among staff proposals to speed up Toronto’s target to become a carbon neutral city
With the launch in 2018 of the Electric Vehicle Subsidy Project (EVSP), the City of Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) have been working together to help accelerate the electric vehicle revolution in the city. To date, over $1 million in government subsidies have been provided through EVSP to promote, through the program, the adoption of clean vehicles throughout the City of Toronto. EVSP’s purpose is to encourage the adoption of clean vehicles through policy, education, and other resources that include the creation of new vehicle types, charging infrastructure, and public outreach initiatives.
The success of EVSP has led to the development of the Electric Vehicle Sales Plan (EVSP), a project that supports the deployment of electric vehicles in the city, and which is nearing its completion stage. The EVSP’s objective is to improve the performance and adoption rate of electric vehicles in the City of Toronto by:
Increasing the amount of electricity needed to charge an EV to 250 km;
Reducing the amount of electricity required to recharge an EV between 150 and 250 km;
Reducing the amount of electricity needed to charge an EV between 75 and 150 km;
Making public-access charging stations affordable for regular drivers; and
Supporting the expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the City of Toronto.
The EVSP program leverages funds provided by the Government of Canada, including funding through the Canada Building Program (CBG). EVSP and other grants that are aligned with EVSP are managed by the Government of Ontario, which provides a range of funding, including the Ontario Smart Grid Infrastructure (OSGI) Fund, Ontario Clean Energy Fund (OCCF) and the Green Energy Fund (GEF).
EVSP is one of five Government of Canada initiatives focused on the implementation of a national electrification strategy for Canada. The other initiatives include:
The Connecting the Future program, which aims to promote the use of electric vehicles as the primary means of personal mobility;
The electric vehicle industry investment program, which is designed to support the development of new and existing electric vehicle infrastructure through private and public partnerships, incentives, and project finance;
The Ontario Electric Vehicle Initiative, a provincial policy designed to spur the adoption