Would you buy an electric car if a tax-payer funded $10,000 rebate were dangled in front of your nose?
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Related: Dalton’s Folly – Russ Campbell’s Blog
Green Eggs and Ham (it up) – Neo at H of M.
And from A CAW Workers Voice Of Reason - Dalton McGuinty Short-Circuits
The McGuinty Motoring Gamble: A Petrolhead’s Perspective – Phantom
No, no and no!! More taxes for the poor taxpayer, Ontario is going mad. Well, at least, their government is going mad.
This morning Lowell Green was pointing out that the taxpayer will be subsidizing this plan which would permit better off individuals to purchase these very expensive electric cars.
Ed, that’s right! Wow. It sure doesn’t seem very well thought out.
The Dulton Liberals just recently canceled plans to build new nuclear reactors to increase Ontario’s electrical generating capacity, so all of this new drain on the grid would be replaced by what or is that watt?
Depends on the car. The upcoming Tesla 4-door, for example, would be 80 grand; that might be a reasonable discount. If the car in question is a G-Wiz, on the other hand . . . no. Absolutely not.
This green crap just gets more ridiculous by the day.
“Consumers should also be aware that these lithium battery packs will require replacement in 3 to 5 years at a cost of between $7,000 to $10,000 dollars.”
Joanne, the above comment was posted by a poster at the site you listed above. (Globe @ Mail.)
So after the Canadian and Ontario taxpayers bailed out GM & Chrysler, to supposedly save Canadian jobs, the Ontario government is going to use taxpayer money to make cars assembled OUTSIDE of Canada more attractive for Canadians to buy. The Prius is assembled in Japan & in 2011 in the USA. The Volt will be assembled in Detroit. The Smart car is assembled in France.
Canadian taxpayers AND Canadian autoworkers should be fuming mad at this.
Bill Carrol interviewed Dennis Desrosiers on CFRB this morning. His basic comment was that government (… read McGuinty) taxes the auto industry out of existence … what he left unsaid was then McGuinty hands over taxpayers money to the auto industry bailouts , now this added welfare for electric cars which will NEVER sell in their current form !
Someone in a different article suggested that the price of the car battery be separate … *&^%$# … if the true environmental and monetary cost of the batteries was known , NO ONE would touch an electric car.
The typical lead-acid car battery life if 5-6 years , but no one is talking about the life expectancy of the electric car batteries , which can easily cost upwards of $5000 to replace.
Again, stewardship of our money by the Ontario Liberals raises great red flags in our mind, and they are adding new ‘fees’ and taxes everyday. More of our money to be used in such valuable ways?
eHealth instead of health care?
Then this
Who will pay for all the first responders (FR) to take training on how to deal with a vehicle “charged to the hilt” that has just been in a crash and they need to turn off the electrical charge to get the injured to safety? Already the FR need extensive training in these Hybrids because they are all different in the way the batteries are configured. The passing by “hero” must make sure what kind of vehicle it is before he/she opens the door to pull out a passenger. My advice is don’t touch it – get qualified help instead.
Simply amazing……McGuinty will subsidize costly electric automobiles with taxpayer money..most of whom cannot/will not be able to afford the pricetag…..completely ridiculous…and all this while the provincial liberals cannot offer a workable health care system and piss our money away on lib friendly consultants…..How many consultants will it take to put electric cars on the road ?
Ontarians that can’t even afford a new car are subsidizing those who can dole out $40k, for a car, a depreciable money sucking luxury…
Come West, we’ll treat you right.
‘eHealth instead of health care’
I’m still thinking ‘huh, Ontario doesn’t have electronic health records YET’
Living in small town Alberta, been on an electronic system for over 2 years.
Doc has a computer, all test results, drugs given and diagnosis on it. He/she opens your file, new prescriptions/tests are ordered right there, you pick up your typed up prescript/order at front desk.
Patients make their own non-emergency test appointments, pharmacies have your full drug history…
We need healthcare reform, eHealth works.
Now we need Pharmacists, RNs and LPNs to be given enhanced responsibilities.
Hold the presses!!!!
India’s Tata Motors is planning on bringing their $2,500 Nano mini-car to North America, possibly as early as next year.
http://blogs.carpoint.ca/2009/07/small-but-safe-tatas-nano-meets-euro-crash-test-standard.html
Crash tests have already been conducted and they passed with better results than average and they have one in the making that is drive by air-pressure alone. (see Al in the comment section of the link)
Let’s wait a couple of years and when the air-compresser one becomes available Premier McGuinty (or Premier Hudak) can buy each one of us a fully-loaded model for $5,000 and save $5,000 to boot.
Maybe Tata Motora would even open a plant in Ontario.
Seriously folks, either I get a new car for free or they can stick their $10,000 rebate.
Rebating me $10,000 on a $40,000 Chevy Volt isn’t going to convince me to buy a car, or any other car, that costs that much just because it’s electric.
NO! Instead of gas, I will have to “fill er up” with electricity. How does that work – can I use the outlet on the outside of my garage or do I have to modify my house for some kind of special site to get my “fuel”? Can you imagine all those cars “sucking” up electricity in residential neighbourhoods and blowing out the transmission lines. No! Whose to say what the price of electricity will be – could be worse than gas! I say let Ontario go first and after 5 years we’ll assess how the program went!
Ahhhhh too bad eh!!!:
‘The “Alberta Greens” Green Party of Alberta has been de-registered by Elections Alberta as a political entity in the Province of Alberta’
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/calgary-blogs/klaszus-corner/2009/07/15/alberta-greens-are-no-more-100/
Dalton should pick Dion’s brain to get some better ideas. After all, Dion promised us in Jan 2007, that we would make “megatonnes of money” off the environment !
That is the problem fernstalbert – politicians in general and progressives in particular never consider the details. Questions like :
Do we have enough electricity supply to meet the increased the demand?
Are windmills really reliable enough to meet the demand?
Will a demand/supply imbalance lead to relying on expensive electricity imports and skyrocketing bills for homeowners and business?
What about the environmental impact from the replacement and disposal of the toxic batteries?
and the obvious
Is this a proper way to spend taxpayer money?
Sorry to go o/t again, but to use the lib msm headline using the words of ‘experts’:
What Experts say about Iffy:
‘It’s not your smarts, stupid, it’s your arrogance’
(Barry Cooper is a professor of political science at the University of Calgary)
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/your+smarts+stupid+your+arrogance/1792233/story.html
McGuinty’s Motor scheme could be a boon for the tow truck business.
HELL YES!
Wonder if McGuinty is vying for a Nobel prize for environMENTAL initiatives. It doesn’t have to make sense to receive a Nobel award apparently.
Dalty has interfered with many facets of our lives to this point and seems intent on doing more of the same.
Soon we’ll all have “smart” meters attached to our power lines so we can all stay up late and get up early to make use of “cheaper” power. Otherwise our already over the moon electric bills will be even higher.
What’s next? I’d say the sky’s the limit.
That’s true Liz J, you can be a complete fraud like Fat Al and get a Nobel Prize.
I reluctantly feel the need to further vent on this issue. I can bet you dollars to doughnuts that we will not be able to “fuel” up our cars at home, we will be forced to drive to the nearest power station conduit and get the energy from a certified dealer. Not only will these vehicles cost more, just think of the infrastructure rejigging to make this work. People already go NIMBY about power lines. Thank God I am old enough that this scenerio will not affect me – I should be dead and in the ground by the time it becomes mandatory. Cheers.
….and the response from the Ontario PCs is what?
Very O/T, but still crazy.
CBC shake up..
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2009/07/15/cbc-correspondents.html
Keith Boag moves from Ottawa to become a correspondent in Los Angeles.
Susan Bonner moves from Ottawa to the CBC’s Washington bureau.
Wow, Boag to LA.
The Ontario election can not come fast enough.
o/t – tuning in to CNN and saw clips of Obama throwing out the fist pitch at a White Sox game last night, and talk about spin! The way CNN saw it was that Obama threw a STRIKE, but what I saw and what I learned from spending every summer since I was 12 playing fastball, was that Obama threw a high-arching low ball that barely got to the plate.
Watch for yourself.
I will bye one of these little wonders when the Glow Bull warming BS gets to the point that will guarantee I don’t need a heater at any time of the year.
that the taxpayer will be subsidizing this plan which would permit better off individuals to purchase these very expensive electric cars.
Under federal bail-outs, you’re now subsidizing (through your taxes) the purchase of any vehicle from GM or Chrysler, by anyone.
I’m not sure why this bothers you more than that does.
They have those power stations for charging these electric cars all over Europe. I might be wrong, but the last time I checked, I haven’t seen a single recharge station here in Ontario. There certainly isn’t one here in Sudbury.
Remember that massive blackout we had about five years ago? What will happen to the power grid in the middle of summer when people need to refuel? If these cars are so green, what kind of plant is used to generate that electricity?
Until the support system for these cars is in place to maintain them, it is absolutley pointless even having, let alone for practical reasons.
Michael Harkov, I was thinking the same thing. Ontario is having a hard enough time maintaining the power grid. It’s only because of an exceptionally cool summer that we haven’t had any brown-outs yet.
McGuinty must be ramping up for an awesome expense in infrastructure for these electric cars.
We need heaters in manitoba tonight in the middle of July. Where oh where is global warming? We have global cooling on the Prairies.
How will Keith diss the PM from L.A. Maybe all the emails re his bias had something to do with his demotion. He could have been sent to Toronto, like Kristan was. Wonder how much air time he will get on a daily basis. And he wont get to travel the world with the PM anymore.
Just maybe this demotion will smarten up those that are still there. IMHO he was probably told, take L.A. or retirement.
Hey Fay..ditto here in SW Man.Believe it or not,I have a fire on in my woodstove right now,thermometer out my window says 9 degrees! Yup,global warming,feelin’ it in Manitoba! NOT
BTW kids..I haven’t watched cbc,or ctv for 3 days,and you know what? I feel so much ‘cleaner’,my blood pressure is way down,and I’m off my meds!!! I refuse to watch,even Wpg ctv/cbc..and Global is a joke,so Fox it is for me.The high-def nature shows are so much better for my health,even Dog the Bounty Hunter and America’s Got Talent have gotten me de-stressed! I refuse to watch Newsnet,Canada AM,Newsworld,until they can find at least a bit of balance.The last straw for me,was watching Craig and Lloyd in pants-peeing,orgasmic praise of Cretin getting his award..it was just too stomach churning,and biased,so I’m off the news,will get my info here and other blogs.
Be sure to read Monte Solberg in the Ottawa Sun today: “Have bears snatched Ignatieff”? In referring to the poll suggesting we want a majority government,a Liberal one, he opines they shouldn’t poll people after they’ve been drinking heavily!
I think I know why Keith is going to L.A., to cover the MJ story re murder, drugs, doctors etc. It should last at least another year. Then there will be the lawsuits etc. CBC needs to be on the scene. LOL.
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See Inkless Wells for his take on the CBC shift before you break out the bubbly.