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Media Contacts

Suntanu Dalal

Media Relations
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
250 952-0628

Backgrounders

B.C.’s support for clean-energy vehicles will benefit province

British Columbia is a leader in clean-energy vehicles (CEVs), with one of the largest charging-infrastructure networks in Canada (approximately 1,300 charging stations), and one of the highest per capita adoption rates of electric vehicles in the country, with about 10,000 CEVs registered in B.C.

The B.C. government encourages British Columbians to choose clean, green vehicles that reduce their transportation greenhouse gas emissions. The CEV Program supports battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, along with hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles. The CEV Program’s target is that by 2020, 5% of new light-duty passenger vehicle sales in B.C. will be clean-energy vehicles (also commonly known as zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs). B.C. has also signed on to the International Zero Emission Vehicle Alliance, in which all members are striving to make all new passenger vehicles in their jurisdictions ZEVs by no later than 2050.

B.C.’s CEV Program has five main program areas:

  • vehicle incentives;
  • electric charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, incentives and support;
  • fleet support;
  • public education and awareness; and
  • research, training and economic development programs.

B.C. government support for clean energy vehicles includes:

  • B.C. is more than doubling the size of its electric vehicle direct-current fast-charger (DCFC) network to 64 sites with:
    • BC Hydro installations at 21 new sites, which leverage about $1 million in federal funding and $700,000 in provincial CEV Program funding.
    • Accelerate Kootenays’ 13 DCFC sites with FortisBC operating five (with $125,000 from the CEV Program), and BC Hydro operating eight.
  • $2 million in provincial funding for the next deployment of DCFCs will be leveraged with 2-to-1 federal-to-provincial dollars. Through an agreement with the federal government, the B.C. investment is included in the latest federal call for projects and will be included in future federal calls until the $2 million is fully expended and the target of 80 additional DCFCs is achieved in B.C.
  • $1 million from the provincial Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund to help local government and private fleets adopt hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.
  • Build-out of the first six public retail hydrogen fuelling stations in B.C., starting this year with two stations in the Lower Mainland and one in the Capital Regional District, and completion of all stations towards the end of 2020.
  • Charging Solutions and Incentives Program administered by the Fraser Basin Council, which provides rebates towards the cost of charging equipment and provides support services for planning and installing electric vehicle chargers. The $1.85-million program, which was funded from the Province’s CEV Program, was launched on March 7, 2018.
  • $700,000 for an expanded Emotive Program, which will assist communities and other partners provincewide in delivering outreach and education on CEVs, encouraging adoption through “ride-and-drives” and other creative, community-based initiatives.
  • $1.5 million for a program, still under development, to help support B.C. companies operating in the clean-energy vehicle sector, and to encourage international investment in B.C. technologies and solutions, increasing the province’s economic opportunities in this fast-growing field.