The owners of Sackville’s two taxi businesses say they’re struggling with the high price of gas, but electric vehicles remain out of reach financially.
“This is not Irving Oil that makes a million dollars a day,” says Larry Parsons, owner of Sackville Cab. “You make enough to have a car that’s fit for the road.”
His company has a fleet of four Mazda5 compact minivans. The four-cylinder engine vehicles seat six people, and he says they’re dependable. One of those vehicles isn’t being used at all as demand has dropped for taxis.
Danny Mitton, owner of Squires Courtesy Cab, is the sole driver for his small business.
His fleet includes two Toyota Priuses. He keeps one of the hybrid vehicles on standby, filled with gas.
He says gas and insurance prices are killing his business, but he isn’t convinced EVs are a viable solution, at least for now..
For one thing, he says they’re too expensive even with a rebate program introduced by the provincial government last year.
New Brunswick followed other provinces in introducing a rebate of up to $5,000 for eligible vehicles, to match a federal rebate, for a total of up to $10,000 in rebates.
CHMA asked the provincial government whether those efforts should go further to protect people from runaway energy costs.
In an email, government spokesperson Nick Brown said: “We understand the impact that rising energy costs have had across New Brunswick and will continue to look for ways to help mitigate these rising costs.
“As part of our incentive program, organizations wanting to electrify their fleets can access up to 10 vehicle rebates per 12-month period for both new and used EVs.”
For more on this story, check out the report that aired on CHMA on Thursday, June 16, 2022.
This story was updated at approximately 6 p.m. on June 20, 2022, to include information from the provincial government.