Effective Thursday, those who have a registered electric vehicle in their possession have a $150 tax to pay. The measure was introduced in the last budget and it is something that caught the group representing electric vehicles in Saskatchewan by surprise.

Matthew Pointer is the president of the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle Association feels with so few electric vehicles in Saskatchewan right now that the government could have waited until more are on the road. He adds a tax like this certainly makes him wonder about the government’s commitment to climate change saying this does nothing to promote that.

They propose 1.3 per cent of market saturation of vehicles registered in the province which works out to about 36,000 vehicles. Pointer says they are a long way from that figure right now as there are around 600 registered electric vehicles in Saskatchewan.

The government put in the tax saying it is an effort to recoup fuel tax money from those who drive fully electric vehicles.

CKRM