In an effort to entice car buyers into going green the Ontario government is going to be offering rebates of up to $10,000 for people who buy plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles. The size of the rebate will depend on the vehicle’s battery capacity. There is as yet no word on how long the rebate program will last. The goal of the McGuinty government is to have one out of every 20 vehicles driven in Ontario electrically powered by 2020.

There has been a lot of controversy about this move to encourage people to buy green cars, but is the rebate program really altruistic? Toyota claims that they weren’t made aware of the rebate program. The provincial government didn’t even attempt to retain an air of neutrality by making the announcement at a Chevrolet dealership. Could this have been an accidental oversight? Considering that our provincial and federal governments now own 12% of General Motors as a result of bail-outs, what do you think? Is the provincial government just subsidizing itself with the rebate program? Go ahead and call me cynical, but making the announcement at a Chevrolet dealership sealed the deal for me.

The other interesting fact is that we do not currently have any electric cars ready for market except for the Canadian made, Toronto-based Zenn Motor Co., which builds electric vehicles for use in low-speed areas, but was excluded from Ontario’s rebate program because its cars are too slow for highway use. These are the vehicles that you can expect to see on the road in 2 – 3 years time.

• Chevrolet’s Volt is scheduled for sale in the second quarter of 2011 and expected to cost roughly $40,000 US.
• Toyota is working on a plug-in version of the Prius.
• Mini has an electric version capable of approximately 200 kilometres between charges, but it is not yet available to the general public.
• Mitsubishi is working on a small electric car called the i-MiEV with a 130 km/h top speed that can travel 120 km on a single charge and is expected to cost close to $50,000.

In anticipation of electric cars, Vancouver is now requiring mandatory chargers for electric vehicles in new residential buildings. Do you think that the general public will embrace electric cars or do you believe that the high price tag will be a deterrent?