The British Columbian government has introduced new rebates to help fund the installation of electric vehicle charging stations both at home and at work across the province.
Condominiums, apartments and workplaces that purchase and install EV chargers can receive a rebate of up to 50 per cent of costs accumulated up to a maximum of $2,000 per charger, as part of BC’s new CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate program. Single-family homes, including duplexes and townhouses, are also eligible to apply for rebates up to 50 per cent of the purchase and installation costs up to a maximum of $350.
Rebates are eligible for Level 2 chargers – either 208 volt or 240 volt – that feature a SAE J1772 standard plug head, and have only been ordered, purchased and/or installed after pre-approval from BC Hydro, the province’s hydro and power authority.
To further help interested parties invest, the EV Charger Rebate program offers up to five hours of free support services from an official advisor to assist with installations.
As a show of support, the new rebate program will receive $10 million as part of BC’s Budget 2021, confirmed by BC’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, Bruce Ralston, earlier this week.
“To better support British Columbians living in condominiums and apartments, we’re offering rebates to make more buildings EV ready,” Mr Ralston explained. “With the highest uptake rates of EV adoption in North America, we want to make sure that more people supporting our transition to a low-carbon economy have easy access to charging infrastructure.”
EV chargers are just one of a wide range of rebates announced by CleanBC Go Electric – including purchases of brand-new PHEV and BEV models by as much as $8,000 – to ensure increased demands for electric vehicles in the province are supported. According to ‘Go Electric BC’, more than 60,000 ‘light duty’ EVs are already on the road in British Columbia, and more than 2,500 public charging stations have been erected across the province, one of the highest totals in Canada. In 2020, light duty EVs made up 10 per cent of all new vehicle sales, a target the province hopes to increase to 26 per cent by 2026, 90 per cent by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2035 as part of the BC’s CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 srategy.
