Kelowna is getting EV ready.
Council accepted a staff report at Monday’s meeting (Feb. 7) that outlines the first stage of electric vehicle readiness for the city. The report suggests that all new single and multi-family residential developments have at least one energized EV outlet for every dwelling. It also suggests exploring EV readiness for new institutional, commercial, industrial, and service station developments. Staff was directed to investigate EV infrastructure requirements through the Community Electric Vehicle and E-Bike Strategy adopted by council in September 2021.
“Realizing the strategy’s full potential will require consistent, bold implementation actions such as recommended in the report,” said Todd Brunner, community energy specialist for the city of Kelowna. “EV ownership in Kelowna has nearly tripled between 2018 and 2020, and strong federal and provincial sales mandates are also a factor being EV ready.”
The report noted that since 2017, 15 other B.C municipalities have been are adopting EV readiness policies, with 10 requiring all parking stalls in new developments to be EV ready and the rest requiring at least one stall.
“Availability of home charging is critical in enabling the transition to EV readiness,” said Brunner. “Our Kelowna survey data shows 84 per cent of charging is done at home. It’s also important that at work and publicly available on-the-go charging is supplemental to home charging.
Read More: Canada’s electric vehicle charging ambitions falling short, industry group says
The report also looked into the additional cost of EV-ready stalls on new builds. A City of Kamloops study estimates the cost for a 140-unit building would be $930 to $1,550 per stall while retrofitting would cost about three times more.
Coun. Luke Stack suggested the city get the message out to the public about the potential savings of EVs.
“There are significant savings to vehicle operation if you’re using electrical power,” said Stack. “I think as this goes out to the public that has to be part of the conversation, that although it may increase part of your housing costs if you include your vehicle and housing costs together there actually may be a saving. I think we need to explore that in our communication.”
Engagement with the public found overall support for the EV readiness plan. The report stated concerns from the development industry included low current EV uptake, increased construction and housing costs and electricity supply and availability.
City staff also said Fortis BC, which provides Kelowna’s electricity, showed overall support and is prepared to invest in planning and upgrading.
Read More: Kelowna council dismayed by lack of EV chargers at Costco’s ‘24-pump mega station
@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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