- Nissan and Hyundai are offering the equivalent of the federal government’s rebate on EVs
- The feds made a surprise announcement recently that the $5,000 rebate has been “paused”
- In the wake of falling rebates, automaker groups are asking Ottawa to rethink its EV sales mandates, too
In the wake of the news that the federal government has suspended its $5,000 “green” rebate for zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), at least two automakers have announced they’ll make up the difference. Nissan Canada and Hyundai Auto Canada will provide an equivalent rebate on eligible vehicles for the remainder of January 2025. Nissan said it will provide the rebate on its all-electric Ariya; while Hyundai said it will make up the difference on its eligible vehicles.
While those are the only two who have announced this so far, we won’t be surprised if other automakers step up as well. In its announcement, Nissan said the sudden suspension is “unfair to valued customers who were in the process of purchasing an electric vehicle.”
UPDATE: Called it: General Motors also said it’d step up to offer the same manufacturer incentive to Canadian buyers through the end of this month. —Ed.
The federal rebate of up to $5,000 for all-electric vehicles – along with $2,500 for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and pro-rated amounts for EV leases between one and three years – was supposed to run until March 31, 2025. Instead, better-than-expected ZEV sales cut hard into the amount allocated to it when it was first set in motion in the spring of 2019, including a large number of rebate requests mid-January. The sudden announcement said the program is just “paused,” and time will tell if it “un-pauses” again before that end-of-March cutoff.
The feds also weren’t the only ones. Quebec had already begun phasing out its incentives program, which saw its EV rebates drop from $7,000 to $4,000 at the beginning of this year; before they were set to go down to $2,000 at the beginning of 2026, and then close off completely at the start of 2027. But the province recently announced it will also pause its generosity for at least a month, starting on February 1, 2025.
That unexpected federal announcement isn’t sitting very well with the industry, because the same government that’s pausing its incentives to buy a ZEV has also mandated that automakers work towards only offering ZEVs.
Three groups – the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, and the Global Automakers of Canada – issued a formal response to the announcement asking the government to reconsider its upcoming mandates. The mandates, announced in 2023, require a sales target for automakers of 20% ZEV sales in 2026; and then a gradual increase to 60% by 2030, and then to 100% by 2035 and beyond.
Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X, Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.