Gas stations, commercial lots in Vancouver must have EV chargers by 2025 or pay $10K a year
If a Vancouver gas station or commercial lot with 60 spots or more wants to avoid a $10,000 annual licence fee, it will need to have electric vehicle (EV) chargers available by 2025.
On Thursday, Vancouver city council approved a report first brought forward in April. Currently, gas stations and commercial parking lots pay a $243 fee for licensing. If they install EV charging infrastructure by 2025, that fee will remain; if not, the cost will jump to $10,000 each year.
Ian Neville, senior sustainability specialist at the City of Vancouver, said the policy is designed to make chargers more accessible in areas of the city that don't have many available, such as Southeast Vancouver.
“That's one of the big pieces. Obviously, we would also like to see more private-sector involvement in deploying charging,” he said.
“And the city does it as a community amenity. It's something we've been in the business of doing for about 10 years now.”
Right now, two of Vancouver's 66 gas stations have EV chargers, and council hopes the move will encourage EV use and incentivize gas stations and lot owners to install chargers.
Around 40 per cent of the city's greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuel-powered vehicles, while the other notable chunk comes from buildings, at 60 per cent, with many of those emissions coming from natural gas.
EVs are one part of a clean transit system, but experts say bolstering public transport and encouraging denser and mixed-use neighbourhoods is also an important part of the puzzle. Neville said the city's Climate Emergency Action plan addresses some of those issues, and he notes things like electrifying transit fall outside of the city's jurisdiction.
City staff said a conservative cost estimate to install the chargers is $136,000 for gas stations and $100,000 for commercial lot owners. These costs would be recovered in around eight years by charging for the power, they added. Also, businesses would be eligible for low-carbon fuel standard credits through the provincial government if they install EV chargers.
During the public hearing, EV user Tim Bray expressed overall support for the report but said the case for gas stations is “weak” and noted incentives for malls and other places where people spend more time might be more suited.
“If we really want to move the needle on EV adoption, the thing to do is to focus on getting chargers into work locations, and especially condo garages… I know the issue is difficult and has awful, sharp edges,” he said.
“But I think there are opportunities for the city to apply incentives here as well. But… yes, this is great. Let's have lots of chargers in parking lots.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
Sherpa guide Kami Rita scales Mount Everest for 29th time, extending his own record again
One of greatest climbing guides on Mount Everest has scaled the world's highest peak for the 29th time, extending his own record for most times to the summit, expedition organizers said Sunday.
As Israel pushes deeper into Rafah, Hamas regroups elsewhere in ungoverned Gaza
Israeli forces were battling Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including in parts of the devastated north that the military said it had cleared months ago, where Hamas has exploited a security vacuum to regroup.
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Feds 'committed to doing more,' but minister offers no timeline for Canadian Disability Benefit boost
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.
Balancing act: Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO juggles Arctic airline challenges
With carriers' flight volumes above the 60th parallel hovering below pre-pandemic levels, Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO now bears the task of balancing those financial and logistical challenges with the needs of communities for which she feels a deep affinity.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.