Ontario is throwing more green at motorists to go green with electric vehicles, raising the maximum subsidy for buying one to $14,000.

The goal of the $20-million program is to get people thinking about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, given that there are only 5,800 electric cars on the road in Ontario.

“We know we can do better than that,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said Wednesday at an underground parking lot charging station on Queen’s Quay West, where there are spots to juice up 14 vehicles.

“Cars account for more greenhouse gas emissions than the iron, steel, cement and chemical industries combined,” she added.

Getting motorists to consider electric vehicles is key given that transportation emissions are the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 35 per cent of the total.

“The personal vehicle will continue to be an important part of our transportation mix,” said Wynne, whose government is also planning to electrify GO Train line.

Ontario, which will soon announce a cap-and-trade system for industrial carbon emissions, has pledged by 2030 to cut greenhouse gases to 37 per cent below 1990 levels.

The money for motorists will help defray the cost of electric vehicles — with about 20 different models available in Ontario that typically carry higher price tags than traditional cars, minivans, SUVs and trucks.

For example, a Kia Soul can be bought for around $20,000 but the electric model is around $35,000, roughly the same price as the base-model Chevy Volt, now in its second generation.

Even with gas down to less than $1 a litre, it pays to get an electric vehicle in the long run because electricity costs about one-quarter of that, said Care Clairman, chief executive of the non-profit group Plug’n Drive.

“I can fill up for 25 cents a litre. I’m pretty sure gas prices are never going that low,” she told reporters.

Depending on the price of the vehicle, the basic purchase subsidy is rising to between $6,000 and $10,000 from a range of $5,000 to $8,500 under a program that began in 2010.

Some plug-in electric hybrids qualify as long as they are approved by the Ministry of Transportation.

But if the electric vehicle — or EV for short — is worth more than $75,000 and less than $150,000, the subsidy is limited to $3,000 given that someone who can afford wheels in that price range doesn’t need as much financial assistance.

Wynne said the aid can rise to the maximum $14,000 only if the vehicle has an extra-large battery — a detail yet to be determined — and seats five or more people to encourage carpooling.

Those subsidies are worth $3,000 and $1,000 respectively.

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Motorists can also get up to $1,000 toward electric vehicle chargers for home and business use.

The government is also boosting its funding to build more electric vehicle charging stations by $20 million.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said electric vehicles can use HOV lane regardless of how many people are riding and will be able to use HOT or high-occupancy toll lanes free once they are up and running.

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