Hymotion L5's in Canada

[nugget]

I wonder what Canadians who have had the Hymotion L5 install done at one of the US installers faced in terms of duty and GST when bringing the car back across the border. I 'm on the waitlist for an install in Seattle soon. I'm feeling the pain (and weird looks from my wife) because with the Cdn dollar's fall as oil plummeted this L5 is now going to cost $3500 more! I did not realize that we had such a petro dollar.
I spoke with a guy in Vancouver who had the install done a few months ago. When he declared it upon crossing the border the customs guy praised his 'greenness' and charged him GST on 50% of the $10K-US.
(The Hymotion was developed in Toronto several years ago, but I guess that doesn't amount to much in terms of GST and possible duty.)
My number is up soon according to Erin at Hymotion... this month or January. And I don't suspect we will see any PHEV taxbreaks like our US cousins are seeing any time soon.
Thanks for any input.
Nugget in Naramata.

[PeakOilGarage]

Ouch. Do you seriously have to pay a 50% tax to bring a Hymotion back across the border to Canada? That is crazy.

[Prius 07]

Originally Posted by PeakOilGarage

Ouch. Do you seriously have to pay a 50% tax to bring a Hymotion back across the border to Canada? That is crazy.

Peakoil - yes that would be crazy but you misunderstood.

"charged him GST on 50% of the $10K-US." ==> GST of 5% was charged on 50% of the $10K = 5%*$5K = $250

[Prius 07]

Originally Posted by nugget

I wonder what Canadians who have had the Hymotion L5 install done at one of the US installers faced in terms of duty and GST when bringing the car back across the border. I 'm on the waitlist for an install in Seattle soon. I'm feeling the pain (and weird looks from my wife) because with the Cdn dollar's fall as oil plummeted this L5 is now going to cost $3500 more! I did not realize that we had such a petro dollar.
I spoke with a guy in Vancouver who had the install done a few months ago. When he declared it upon crossing the border the customs guy praised his 'greenness' and charged him GST on 50% of the $10K-US.
(The Hymotion was developed in Toronto several years ago, but I guess that doesn't amount to much in terms of GST and possible duty.)
My number is up soon according to Erin at Hymotion... this month or January. And I don't suspect we will see any PHEV taxbreaks like our US cousins are seeing any time soon.
Thanks for any input.
Nugget in Naramata.

Nugget - I don't quite understand the issue beyond the currency bad news. You would have to pay the GST even if you bought it in Canada. Speaking of which can't you get the conversion done in Canada? If it is available in Canada and you can get a lower pricing than perhaps you can "sell" your allocation in the US to a US resident. Someone might be interested if as I suspect there is a long waiting list.

[nugget]

Nugget - I don't quite understand the issue beyond the currency bad news. You would have to pay the GST even if you bought it in Canada. Speaking of which can't you get the conversion done in Canada? If it is available in Canada and you can get a lower pricing than perhaps you can "sell" your allocation in the US to a US resident. Someone might be interested if as I suspect there is a long waiting list.

----------------------
Good point about the GST. I suppose what I really want to know is about duty, if applicable. During my quick conversation with the guy in Vancouver who has had his install done I forgot to specifically ask if he was dinged duty on the L5 pack in addition to the GST.
No, you can not get the L5 in Canada, despite the Hymotion origins. The Hymotion rep indicated they are in talks with certified installers, but that could take a while. Meantime, the province of BCis getting about 5 cars done and I'm trying to find out if they are going to Seattle or coming to Vancouver for that. Green Car Co., the Seattle installer, recently went to Wenatchee, Washington for the install of 13 L5 packs.
I've been on the waitlist since June, and my understanding is that they are ready for me soon, but I also think that anyone booking now probably doesn't have a long wait (depending on the locale).
It was interesting to see that the Green Car Co. recently tried to sell a 2009 Prius with Hymotion on e-bay and the bidding went up to $45,000 without achieving the reserve bid, so no sale.
So, maybe I go ahead and get the install done on our 2005, and in the worse case scenario there is always e-bay!!
Thanks for your comments.

[PeakOilGarage]

The reserve on Ebay was $43,500. The bidding went to $42,100.
That vehicle was later sold in the store at the asking price.

Green Car Company always has at least one or two 2009 Prius Hymotion Plug-In vehicles available for walk-in customers who want to avoid the waiting list. We only order package #6 for the 2009 Prius, but we would do a lower package on request.

[nugget]

J.M., aka Peak Oil, thanks for the clarification. I was curious what the reserve would be.
So, briefly, is there a US federal income tax advantage on PHEVs of 4 KW or greater now in place, or is it coming?

[PeakOilGarage]

Originally Posted by nugget

J.M., aka Peak Oil, thanks for the clarification. I was curious what the reserve would be.
So, briefly, is there a US federal income tax advantage on PHEVs of 4 KW or greater now in place, or is it coming?

Yes. The federal bailout bill for the banks included the federal tax credits for plug-in vehicles. 4 kwh or more. It starts at $2,500 and maxes out at $7,500.

In the state of Washington, starting Jan 1 2009 there is no sales tax on any vehicle that gets over 40+ mpg. That includes electrics. When we sell a Hymotion battery in a new 2009 Prius, we can include the cost of the Hymotion battery with the sales tax holiday. It is valid for 2009 and 2010 calander years.

[RetroCanada]

I have to say I'm extremely disappointed in Hymotion. I was on the notification list for the availability of the upgrade a couple of years ago. I was surprised when Canadian technology was sold to an American company and was only being offerred at an American dealer. My polite emails over the past year requesting information about when and where the conversion might be available in Canada have gone unanswered. If I'm going to fork over ten grand plus, I want to have faith in the company. I even tried getting answers wearing my other hat - as a journalist for a national media outlet. Still no answer. I seriously question why a company would ignore questions from a journalist interested in learning more about product.

Personally, I think if they can't be bothered to respond to a patient potential customer's questions, it's a sign that once I'm back over the border, I'm on my own. No thanks.

I should add that my inquiries to Tesla Motors about the availability of their vehicles elicited immediate response and dialogue.

When and if it's ever available where the technology was developed, I'll consider it.

[PeakOilGarage]

RetroCanada,
Based on your location, it looks like Vancouver BC will be your closest location.
We are considering opening a Green Car Company store in Vancouver before the end of 2009. We would also install and support Hymotion batteries at the location in Canada.