Government initiative puts charge in EV infrastructure

I was recently invited by B.C. Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Michelle Mungall to help organize a Clean Energy Vehicle Day in Victoria, during which the provincial government made a commitment, along with other partners, to more than double the size of the province’s current electric vehicle fast-charger network.

The New Car Dealers Association applauds this commitment as the biggest obstacle to the adoption of EVs is a lack of adequate charging locations, resulting in a 21st-century affliction commonly referred to as range anxiety.

Electric vehicle sales are growing steadily and as more and more EVs appear on the road, drivers need charging spots that will keep pace with demand. Vehicle travel doesn’t observe boundaries, so there also needs to be a concerted effort by governments at all levels, in co-operation with the charging infrastructure industry and others, to play a role in planning and funding a network of charging locations that ensures access where EV drivers live, work and play.

The NCDA works hard to ensure consumers have the best and most up-to-date information about the latest vehicles, options and support. Increasingly, those conversations are about cleanenergy vehicles.

The recent 98th Vancouver International Auto Show was the greenest yet. Electric vehicles took centre stage and the number of participants in the CEVforBC Electric Vehicle Experience Test Drive increased 18 per cent over 2017, with more than 2,500 people taking the opportunity to take an EV or hybrid out for a test drive.

Another feature of this year’s event was a panel discussion I hosted involving CEOs of some of the largest automotive manufacturers. One thing was made clear: clean-energy vehicles will continue to play an increasing role in the future with Kia officials, as an example, indicating they will be producing 16 new clean-energy models within the next decade.

Consumers no longer need to be led into a discussion about the virtues of clean-energy vehicles. They want and are demanding that auto manufacturers address their increasing appetite for green modes of transportation.

For some, record-high fuel prices are a motivating factor. For others, the move to cleaner technology is the result of becoming more environmentally aware. And for many, incentive programs have also helped steer them in this direction.

The CEVforBC Program, which the New Car Dealers Association administers on behalf of Victoria, offers B.C. residents up to $5,000 for the purchase or lease of an eligible vehicle. In the last 31/2 years, more than 4,200 units have been approved through the program.

There’s also the SCRAP-IT Program, which provides an incentive to remove any combustion engine from our roads and replace it with a clean-energy vehicle.

Since its inception in 1996, that program has successfully removed more than 43,000 super-polluting vehicles from B.C. roads.

Through the continued efforts and leadership shown by auto manufacturers, new car dealers and government, British Columbia has become a national leader by embracing more clean-energy vehicles per capita than any other province — and it’s a road we need to continue to travel together.