British Columbia builds an electric highway

While many of us still scrape the city for affordable dinosaur juice to fuel our cars, electric vehicle (EV) owners can celebrate the province’s continued investment in public EV infrastructure. The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation recently announced a suite of new charging stations funded by CleanBC’s Go Electric Public Charger Program.

The big picture: According to the Ministry, British Columbia saw substantial growth in EV uptake, from 5,000 light-duty EVs registered in B.C. in 2016 to more than 85,000 in 2022. “As British Columbians are switching to electric vehicles at record speed, we continue to expand our network of electric charging stations and accelerate toward our CleanBC goal of completing B.C.’s electric highway by 2024 with our rebate programs,” said Bruce Ralston, minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation. “With these new charging stations, British Columbians can travel to different communities throughout the province with ease and contribute to a low-carbon future.”

Charging locally: The program enabled four new charging station locations in Metro Vancouver: one in East Vancouver at Real Canadian Superstore (3185 Grandview Hwy.) operated by BC Hydro, one in Coquitlam at Real Canadian Superstore (1301 Lougheed Hwy.) operated by BC Hydro, and two in Richmond: one at the Richmond Hospital (7000 Westminster Hwy.) operated by Vancouver Coastal Health, and one at Real Canadian Superstore (4651 No. 3 Rd.) operated by BC Hydro.

Getting on the map: Applications are open until December 16th, 2022 for the next round of Clean BC’s Go Electric Public Charger Program, which offers rebates of up to $130,000 to set up a new station. The program is prioritizing applications that fill geographic gaps, are located in rural, northern, and Indigenous communities, or pilot fast charging projects that may support carshare fleets or use off-grid renewable energy sources.