Want more EVs on roads? Let's make it happen
Government policies and programs are key to success, Suzanne Goldberg writes.
For a city leading on climate action, “Vancouver again tops list for worst air quality in the world” wasn't a headline any of us expected to read. In fact, as summer turned to fall, British Columbians across the province were told to remain indoors as smoke from wildfires drifted north from the western United States.
While smoke-filled skies are in the rear-view mirror, for now, we must ramp up our efforts to tackle climate change so we can avoid the prospect of this becoming the new normal.
Over the past decade, British Columbia has been a global climate leader, establishing ambitious new policies and programs through the province's climate action plan, CleanBC.
As the British Columbia New Democratic Party acknowledged in its election platform, we must enhance our efforts today to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But moving goods and people around the province remains a stubborn challenge.
Transportation-related emissions accounted for nearly 38 per cent of carbon pollution in 2018, increasing by more than one million tonnes from the previous year.
CleanBC includes a number of critical transportation-related regulations and programs that make it easier for people to both purchase an electric vehicle (EV) and charge it up, whether at home or on the road. As Simon Fraser University professor Mark Jaccard has noted, one of the top actions British Columbians can take to reduce their individual carbon footprint is to switch to an EV.
More B.C. citizens and businesses than ever are choosing to drive electric, reaping the benefits of both lower fuel bills and a smaller carbon footprint. B.C. Hydro estimates calculate that B.C. drivers can save thousands by transitioning to an EV.
Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that in the first half of 2020, more than eight per cent of new car sales in the province were EVs — five per cent more than the national average!
That interest has created a flourishing EV sector, which includes electrical and civil contractors, electricians, engineers, charging distributors and EV dealers. The sector now employs more than 6,000 full-time workers — nearly triple the number in 2015 — and contributes $600 million to the province's economy, while supporting more than 2,000 public charging spots and 41,000 electric cars cruising the province's roads.
While we've made a great start, we need to increase our ambition further and backstop it with new and enhanced provincial policies and programs. The new government can do just that. Here's how:
• Swiftly implement a platform commitment to make it easier for British Columbians who live in condos, townhouses and apartments to get EV chargers installed. More than 40 per cent of British Columbians live in multi-family homes and many have been stymied in their efforts to install a charger. The solution is new “right-to-charge” rules that require strata and rental buildings to accommodate reasonable requests for EV charging. Similar rules are already found in Ontario, California, Florida and Oregon.
• Double down on the regulations and programs that make it easier and less expensive for transit agencies, businesses and drivers to choose electric — and invest in chargers to power them. For example, California and Quebec have just announced they will legislate 100 per cent zero emission vehicle sales by 2035, five years earlier than B.C.'s law requires. California has also introduced zero emission vehicle sales regulation for medium and heavy duty vehicles and new mechanisms within its Low Carbon Fuel Standard to maximize electrification investment opportunities. B.C. should do the same.
• Last, but not least, commit to ensuring that our power utilities, B.C. Hydro and FortisBC, are offering rates and programs that support the growing number of businesses, gas stations, hotels and local governments investing in the charging infrastructure we'll need throughout the province as we convert to EVs.
EVs aren't a panacea for all our transportation challenges in B.C.
We need more and cleaner public transit and better infrastructure to make it easier for people to walk or ride a bike. But they will have a big role to play. We're off to a good start, but we have the opportunity to do much more, benefiting our environment, our economy and our wallets.