The municipality of Summerland has expanded its electric vehicle charging network.
Public charging for electric vehicles is now available at five locations in the community, including six Level 3 fast chargers.
The locations allow electric vehicle drivers to go shopping, grab a bite to eat or walk along the Okanagan Lake shoreline while their vehicles are charging.
“Summerland is a proud leader on taking climate action and providing high-value services to our residents and visitors. The district has offered public EV charging since 2013 however, thanks to the generous support of the federal and provincial governments, we have added 22 new stations to our network,” said Mayor Toni Boot. “As travel restrictions ease, we’re thrilled to welcome the EV community back to Summerland.”
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She added that since the beginning of January, the municipality’s charging stations have been used for more than 55,000 minutes of charging.
Funding for the network expansion was provided by the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative and the Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program. The programs provided a combined total of $380,000 for the project, in addition to the $200,000 the province is investing in the project through CleanBC. An additional $145,000 contribution came from the municipality’s Climate Action Reserve Fund and unallocated surplus.
“People in the South Okanagan want to do their part to fight climate change, and electrifying transportation is one of the effective tools we have to help that shift to a low carbon economy,” said Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen. “It is inspiring to see Summerland working so hard on making switching to an electric vehicle easy for the community, and I’m proud we’re able to support that work.”
Information about the charging stations is available on the municipality’s website, at www.summerland.ca/evcharging. This page also includes stories from local electric vehicle drivers, information for those curious about electric vehicles, and details about Summerland’s charging network. Hard copy brochures with this information are also available at Municipal Hall and the Works and Infrastructure Office.
The official launch of the expanded charging station network was held on the morning of July 27 in Memorial Park.
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