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Vehicles with a retail price of less than $45,000 with six or fewer seats are eligible as well as cars with seven or more seats for a maximum retail price of $55,000. These discounts can be applied to new purchases of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Short-range plug-in hybrid vehicles are eligible for incentives of $2,500.

Photo by Ian Kucerak / Postmedia

The total incentive investment from the federal government is $300 million over the next three years, Sohi said, as well as an additional $130 million to expand the network of charging and refuelling stations across the country.

Through investment in previous budgets, Sohi said the government has already installed 500 charging stations across the country. This is in addition to charging stations run by private companies, such as AddEnergie’s Flo Network which has about 40 charging stations in Edmonton alone.

“It is time to set ambitious goals and to give Canadians more choice in transportation,” Sohi said. “In the long term you save money on fuel, you save money on maintenance … so this is a win-win situation for everyone.”

In response to what the rise of electric vehicles means for the future of Alberta’s oil and gas sector, Sohi said those sources will continue to be a source of energy mix for decades to come, but has had a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Moving to zero-emission vehicles, Sohi said, is needed to help combat climate change.

“We need to invest in renewable energy sources and give (Canadians) the option of driving more cleaner and greener vehicles,” he said.

With the incentives, the goal of the federal government is to have zero-emission vehicles represent 10 per cent of vehicle sales by 2025 and 100 per cent by 2040.

Photo by Ian Kucerak / Postmedia

duscook@postmedia.com

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