Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Reagan Jr has just announced an investment of $1.7 million dollars (with federal funding from Green Infrastructure – Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration Program) to address barriers to electric vehicle adoption. Additional investments from FLO | AddÉnergie, the City of New Westminster, IBX Data Systems and Sun Country Highway bring the total funding to $4.1 million.
This funding will focus on the expansion of the EV Charging Network System developed by the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Smart Microgrid Applied Research Team to improve grid efficiencies, user experience, and interoperability issues.
Government support for this project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, create jobs, promote the uptake of EVs, and increase fast-charging infrastructure.
“Canadians want greener options to get to where they need to go. We’re making EVs more affordable and charging infrastructure readily available, allowing Canadians to be in the driver’s seat on the road to a net-zero future.”
The absence of reliable charging infrastructure is seen as a barrier to wide adoption of electric vehicles, as consumers are accustomed to being able to refill their tanks quickly and easily anywhere.
