Gas stations with electric chargers to pay lower licence fees

The City of Vancouver will reward gas stations and commercial parking lots that install electric chargers with a lower business licence fee.

Vancouver city council reviewed and approved a report Thursday evening that would see gas stations and commercial parking lots pay a lower business licence fee if they agree to install on-site electric vehicle chargers.

Stations and lots have until January 2025 to install electric vehicle infrastructure to take advantage of the new policy.

The move supports the city's climate goal of cutting carbon pollution in half by 2030, and hopes of converting 50 per cent of the kilometres logged on Vancouver's roads to those by zero-emission vehicles by that year.

By targeting charger installations in places where vehicles already frequent, the city aims to ensure electric charging stations are more evenly distributed across the community, and perhaps allow for drivers, particularly those living in rentals and aren't able to install a charger of their own, to consider switching to an electric vehicle.

Currently, nearly 40 per cent of Vancouver's carbon emissions are produced by vehicles using gasoline and diesel.

In 2021, 13 per cent of vehicle sales in B.C. were zero-emission vehicles. The province's goal under its Clean B.C. policy, however, is to achieve 26 per cent by 2026 and 90 per cent by 2030.

The move to electric could also be accelerated with gasoline prices hitting record highs in recent weeks, as a recent poll found. In a KPMG poll, over 60 per cent of Canadians say it's time to buy an EV and 51 per cent say they will never buy another gas-powered vehicle. Forty-eight per cent of those surveyed said they were “definitely buying an EV” because of gas prices.

The federal government currently offers a $5,000 rebate for eligible electric vehicles, in addition to B.C.'S offer of a $3,000 rebate for new or leased EVS. The rebate only applies to vehicles priced under $55,000.