On Monday, the City of Kelowna, located in southern British Columbia, Canada, will consider a staff proposal seeking to mandate electric vehicle (EV) chargers at all new gas stations — reports The Kelowna Daily Courier.
The proposed changes to the city’s regulations will also require that:
Earlier in the year, some Kelowna City Councillors were disappointed to learn that the massive 9,000 sq.-ft, 24-pump Costco gasbar being constructed along Baron Road would not have any EV charging stations. Under current city regulations, the city council could not force Costco to include charging stations for EVs.
“Certainly, these are the types of things we’d like to see encouraged in developments going forward,” city manager Doug Gilchrist told the city council in April.
“And as we develop our electric vehicle strategy, it may well be that this moves from encouragement to something that’s required in some form under a bylaw.”
EVs have a well-documented upper hand against gas guzzlers when it comes to net impact on the environment. In addition, more aggressive transition strategies across the country are sorely needed if Canada hopes to have 100% of all new car and truck sales in the country be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035.
The new regulations being proposed to the council on Monday are based on a city-sponsored online survey that received 223 responses, 20% of which were from individuals who own an EV.
Last year, Germany took a similar legal measure to accelerate the propagation of EV charging infrastructure across the country.
