According to a Capital Regional District (CRD) report, the Greater Victoria area needs to increase EV charging stations four times to meet city goals by 2030.
The CRD team worked with Dunsky Energy Consulting to develop the report. The report looked at the current growth rate of EV’s and the infrastructure needed to support these vehicles.
At the current adoption rate, 11% of Greater Victoria’s light-duty vehicles will be electric by 2030. However, Victoria has a goal of 25%. According to the report, charging stations need to be plentiful to entice people to make the switch to EV’s.
In addition, the report notes the focus should be on installing level 2 chargers in shopping centres, recreation centres, community hubs and workplaces. The total estimated investment to increase the available public EV charging to four times the current numbers is $31 million.
That breaks out to $7.7 million for 770 level 2 ports and $23.1 million for 132 direct current fast chargers.
There is broad support for EV charging in Victoria. A 2018 CRD survey found 92% of residents considered it important or very important for all new builds to come equipped with EV charging options. The report did not note where the funding would come from. However, it flagged potential funding opportunities from the Federal and Provincial governments.
