Electric vehicle rebate among staff proposals to speed up Toronto’s target to become a carbon neutral city
Electric vehicle rebate among staff proposals to speed up Toronto’s target to become a carbon neutral city
TORONTO – An electric vehicle rebate among proposals being considered by Toronto City staff for speeding up Toronto’s goal of becoming a carbon neutral city.
City staff will also consider an electric car rebate as one of five proposals to support the goal of becoming a carbon neutral city, the city announced Tuesday morning.
In the past two years, Toronto has passed a new Clean Transit strategy, set an electrically-charged vehicle goal — and now could be set an electric vehicle goal if the proposals are approved.
Staff are looking to speed up the process to get a new electric vehicle rebat in place by getting it into the public consultations process by the first quarter of 2020, as they aim to have a rebate to be available for electric cars by 2021.
“This is an opportunity and an opportunity to drive forward,” said Rick Smith, the city’s planning and development manager. “One of the first things we do is look ahead. And as a city we have to be ahead of the curve.”
The two electric vehicle rebate proposal submissions include:
The use of an electric car rebate in the Clean Transit strategy put forward by Toronto’s sustainability advisory committee.
The use of an electric car rebate in the Toronto Green Deal Plan, the report of an advisory group of stakeholders to the city’s planning and infrastructure committee.
The city’s electric vehicle target is a goal that staff want to set, but one that has been in the works for more than a decade.
“We have identified five options for the city to consider how could the municipality accelerate or speed up its current target,” said Smith. “The goal would be to make them all work.”
Smith said he’s hopeful they can speed up TTC electrification, the city’s plan to electrify all of its buses and streetcars by the end of 2021.
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