EV charging network expansion and Day Lot 4 improvements

The project work is complete and the 28 new EV charging stations opened for public use on Thursday, September 10, 2020. The work has been implemented Whistler Excavations Ltd and Foreseeson EV Chargers and led by the design team PBX and ISL Engineering. The project includes upgrades of civil and electrical infrastructure for Day Lots 1, 2, and 4 as well as the Conference Centre surface parking lot to accommodate additional parking, electrical vehicle charging equipment, and lighting where applicable.

Background

Personal vehicle transport is Whistler’s largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for just over 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) which represents 56 per cent of Whistler’s total. Personal vehicle transport is the main reason the community is off-track to its climate targets. Electric vehicles (EVs) present an important opportunity to reduce these emissions.

Increasing the share of EVs on Whistler roads is aligned with meeting the RMOW’s official climate targets set in the current Official Community Plan (OCP), with numerous Community Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) priorities, the priorities set out by the Transportation Advisory Group (TAG), and transportation and energy and climate goals set out in the new draft OCP.

The project will deploy recent dual-port Level 2 charging stations, with load sharing ability and network functionality to provide effective and cost efficient EV charging coverage. The chargers will have the widely used SAE J1772 connector to enable the broadest possible access. Existing signs placed throughout the Village to help locate parking lots with EV chargers will be further expanded to help identify and locate new infrastructure from the project.

Impacts

Widely accessible electric vehicle infrastructure is imperative in ensuring that Whistler’s largest GHG emitting sector can transition to the clean energy future. Expanding Whistler's EV charging network in Whistler will serve two distinct populations: it will help our local citizens choose EVs, while also enabling visitors to choose electric mobility to travel to and from Whistler. Enabling and encouraging visitors to choose EVs is one of the few actions Whistler can take to reduce emissions associated with travel to and from Whistler, which are estimated at 18 times total community emissions.

Learn more about EV charging in Whistler.

Funding

This important climate action and infrastructure work was completed thanks to federal and provincial funding contributions covering approximately 45 per cent of the EV charging station installation cost. These public EV charging stations were made possible by funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program ($117,755), the provincial Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program ($61,500) as well as parking revenue from the Day Lots.

The CARIP is a program between the BC Government and BC municipalities that signed on to the Climate Action Charter, which rebates municipal corporate carbon tax payments, to be used for GHG emissions reduction initiatives within that community. The Day Lot Committee will cover the annual electricity provision to the chargers from its revenue.