Vancouver plan aims to make it easier to charge electric vehicles

Vancouver is looking at expanding electric vehicle (EV) charging availability around the city.

A city council report approved Thursday means by January 2025 all gas stations and commercial parking lots will require EV charging infrastructure available or be hit with a higher business license fee.

“This further advances the City’s climate action goals of reducing fossil fuels, cutting carbon pollution by 50 per cent by 2030, and ensuring 50 per cent of the kilometres driven on Vancouver’s roads are by zero emissions vehicles by 2030,” said a city statement.

Other items the city said they were doing to support EV use included the following:

• Expanding EV public charging network and adding more fast chargers so there is one within a 10-minute drive of everyone in the city;
• Requiring 100% EV-ready stalls in all new residential developments;
• Adding more EV charging to new non-residential developments;
• Introducing an EV cord cover license program that makes on-street residential charging safer
• Expanding the City’s EV fleet and purchasing Canada’s first electric firetruck.

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The report was announced in the midst of historically high gas prices across the province.

Despite a recent dip which saw gas prices drop to around $2.14 per litre for regular gas, from $2.30 per litre, one expert predicts prices may rise again.

“Why it went down 10 cents is a little bit of a mystery and it’s pretty well right across the country,” said Roger McKnight, senior petroleum analyst with En-Pro International.

“Our driving season is this weekend and the US driving season, the big one, is next weekend, so if demand keeps on going up and inventories keep on going down then the teeter-totter is not level, and the price will continue to rise.”

With files from Sonia Aslam