British Columbia doubles charging station rebates

The Government of British Columbia is doubling its rebates for electric-vehicle charging stations. The increase is part of the CleanBC rebate program, which has helped the province to have one of the highest EV uptakes in Canada.

In British Columbia homeowners could get a rebate of up to 50 per cent of the cost of buying and installing an EV charging station before, only the province capped the previous reimbursement at 350 dollars. This limit has now doubled up to a maximum of $700.

Also public and semi-public installations will now be eligible for a rebate of up to 50 per cent of their costs, up to a maximum of $4,000 per charger. The previous rebate cap for Level 2 charging stations was $2,000. The CleanBC rebate program also offers up to five hours of free consultations with a specialists advisor for condos, apartments and workplaces.

Applications are open since 4 December through the government’s website. You will also find electric vehicle rebates of up to 8,000 dollars there.

British Columbia’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Act requires all light-duty cars and trucks sold in the province to be zero-emission vehicles by 2040. The regulation will be phased in starting in 2025 with the requirement that 10 per cent of all light-duty vehicles must be electric. This initial number will then be ramped up to 30 per cent in 2030, before the 2040 deadline of 100 per cent of vehicles sold being emission-free.

Those targets are largely in line with national targets. There is no binding EV sales quota for manufacturers though, but an additional five million dollars have been budgeted to agree on voluntary sales targets with car manufacturers. For prospective owners, Canada is running the iZEV scheme on the federal level, which has last been updated in 2019.

ctvnews.ca, goelectricbc.gov.bc.ca (for applicants)