Mike Kenny, owner of the AllEV car dealership in Charlottetown, said a government commitment for new charging stations will help boost advocacy and uptake of electric car sales in P.E.I.
“People get a little bit clouded when there’s no real action from government. They tend to want to hold back until the confidence is put forward by the government.”
The federal government is investing $250,000 for Maritime Electric to install 50 Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) chargers in nine P.E.I. communities.
Those communities include Alberton, Charlottetown, Cornwall, Miltonvale Park, Morell, the Resort Municipality, St. Peter’s Bay, Stratford and Three Rivers.
The announcement was made virtually by Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, who is also MP for Cardigan, on Thursday. MacAulay was joined by P.E.I. Environment, Energy and Climate Action Minister Steven Myers and Jason Roberts, president and CEO of Maritime Electric.
The total funding for the project will be $590,000, with $40,000 from the provincial government and the rest coming from Maritime Electric and other partners.
Though no firm start date was given, all the chargers are expected to be installed by the end of this year.
“We’re in the process of working with all the municipalities right now on design, so we’ll be procuring the equipment over the next couple months,” said Roberts, “and (we) hope to have them installed in the second half of the year and completed by the end of the year.”
Stop in
The Level 2 chargers are known as destination chargers, said Roberts.
“We want EV users to come visit the communities, spend some time in the communities, get out, tour, shop, whatnot, so these will charge your vehicle over a period of five to seven, five to 10 hours.”
For this reason, they could be a boon to the communities that are getting them, though it will depend on where they end up, said Kenny.
“They’re meant to be a destination where you are going for at least an hour or two or more, so they need to be placed in public areas like parks and schools and hospitals.”
Maritime Electric is in talks with the municipalities to finalize those details, but Roberts was able to say about how many would be in each.
“On average, you’re going to see two chargers in each of the communities with the exception of Charlottetown and Cornwall. They will have anywhere from seven to nine each.”
At a glance
- P.E.I. has about 30 chargers across the Island.
- They are a mix of Level 2 and 3 chargers.
- Level 3 chargers are much faster, which can charge some EV plug-in vehicles to 80 per cent in about 20 to 30 minutes.
- The provincial government announced Thursday, Feb. 25 that it would provide AllEV with $99,382 through the Climate Challenge Fund announced in 2019 to do Islandwide education, which will start in the spring.
Barriers
Though the new chargers will help entice more people to make the switch to EV, it can still be daunting for Islanders as costs can be prohibitive.
While the federal government has a $5,000 rebate available on eligible vehicles and businesses can write off 100 per cent of the cost of switching to EVs, Kenny would like to see a provincial effort to support the purchase of used EVs, similar to what was announced in Nova Scotia on Wednesday.
In that province, people can now receive up to $2,000 on used EVS under $55,000.
Still, those looking to buy shouldn’t wait if they can help it, said Kenny.
“Definitely don’t hold back. The only way to battle climate change today is to be active today, not putting it off.”
Twitter: @MichaelRobar
