B.C. Hydro cuts Tesla from charger rebate program in tariff fight​on March 13, 2025 at 6:43 pm

B.C. Hydro has pulled the plug on rebates for Tesla electric vehicle chargers as part of the provincial government’s response to U.S. tariffs.

“The government of B.C. and B.C. Hydro are taking action to (give preference to) Canadian goods in our rebate programs going forward and to exclude, where practicable, U.S. produced goods,” the Crown utility corporation said on its website.

As of Wednesday Tesla products, including EV chargers, energy storage batteries and inverters, are not eligible for Clean B.C. and B.C. Hydro rebates. However, if you bought or got pre-approval for a Tesla before March 12, it can still qualify.

The rebate program covers up to 50 per cent of the purchase and installation costs for a home charger, up to a maximum of $350.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been closely associated with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose tariffs on Canadian products have triggered a trade war.

Energy Minister Adrian Dix said Elon Musk’s cars and trucks are all too pricey to be part of the province’s EV rebates, but this was a way B.C. could make a statement.

“Teslas are outside of the price threshold of our EV programs, but B.C. Hydro has power smart programs, including what I call the Tesla power wall and other things,” said Dix during a scrum at the legislature on Thursday. “And reviewing those programs this weekend with them, I saw that, and I thought that they shouldn’t be made available in the public subsidy program right now.

“I don’t think anyone in British Columbia needs to be told why, and I think most people would support their removal from that list. Their being removed doesn’t change their accessibility in the B.C. market, it just means that people who use them aren’t going to have the B.C. Hydro subsidy — which supports homeowners in particular, to make their homes more energy efficient — available to them.”

Teslas use a proprietary charging system that’s not compatible with other electric vehicle makers’ chargers.

With files from Alec Lazenby and The Canadian Press

jruttle@postmedia.com