After Tesla started taking reservations for its new electric truck, a surprising number of those pre-orders were coming from Canada.
Now we learn that fleet operators and truck drivers in Ontario, Canada’s biggest province, are going to have access to an important incentive.
The Ontario government is about to announce the new program, reported Reuters:
“The program will offer buyers rebates of up to 60 percent of the incremental purchase cost of an electric truck, compared with an equivalent diesel vehicle, up to a cap of C$75,000 per vehicle, according to documents seen by Reuters.”
That’s the equivalent of an incentive worth up to $59,000 USD.
Ontario already has a significant EV incentive of up to $14,000 CAD for passenger cars, but with the new Green Commercial Vehicle Program, electric trucks would now be included.
Electrek’s Take
Interestingly, the news comes just after BYD announced a new electric truck assembly factory in Ontario. The company is likely going to benefit from this new incentive.
Of course, Tesla is also likely going to benefit from higher demand for Tesla Semi in the province.
The vehicle is already somewhat popular in Canada with Loblaws, a massive grocery chain in Canada, already having confirmed placing an order for 25 Tesla Semi electric trucks and Walmart announced that it reserved 15 trucks from Tesla, 10 of which will be used in Canada, according to the retailer.
Tesla’s electric truck is a little more expensive than an average diesel truck, but operators can save a lot on the back end with a much lower operating cost.
But with this incentive, the upfront cost would be very similar to an average diesel truck, which costs about $120,000. Tesla’s truck starts at $150,000 ($191,000) and goes up to $180,000 ($230,000 CAD). 60-percent would go up to the $75,000 CAD limit, which I would think could make the truck extremely competitive.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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