Electric Car Availability Expands in Canada

With electricity as low as 4.33 cents a kWh and gas at about $1.30 a liter ($4.92 per US gallon), Quebec should be a haven for EVs. Surprisingly, I don't think the average person in Quebec has realized the economic benefit yet. Also, the electricity is 96 percent hydro, so relatively clean.

@ Yegor,

Your comparison is incorrect. Too many assumptions.

1. Volt is not an EV. It is a hybrid, an expensive one. Several thousands more than LEAF, and $10K more than i.
2. Hybrids need to stick with the maintenance schedule of a regular ICE vehicle, not the vehicle dashboard, because motor oil (and others) will degrade due to time too. Cost savings really are the brakes, but offset by dealerships' labor cost. EV has a different maintenance schedule, so it needs to be computed differently.
3. Most can't claim full tax credit from fed gov't. Most have to pay state sales tax ($4000 approx for Volt in some regions). Regional tax rebates are of very limited funding, so not all owners will benefit.
4. There are also cash rebates on many C-segment ICE vehicles, in addition to low financing.
5. You forgot to count battery replacement cost on hybrids/EVs.

In the end, it's about 18 years - 20 years to recover the cost on an expensive hybrid like the Volt. However, avg light vehicle ownership is less than 5 years, as per this report published by Dept of Energy.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2010_fotw622.html

Thus, there's no way an "average" US l.v. owner can recover the extra money spent on an expensive hybrid.

This is why it's actually a very, VERY, bad thing to use money savings as the reason for purchasing an expensive hybrid, or expensive EV. The arguments is more suitable for environmental reasons. The exceptions here are the cheap hybrids like Prius or Insight, or even the cheaper EV like i or LEAF SV, when you can factor in regional tax incentives and company reimbursement on green vehicles (can be up to $10K or more!). Those rebates / incentives will bring the price of cheap hybrids/EV to the level of an ok-equipped C-segment vehicle.