Local area MP gets to announce plans for 36 EV chargers

By Staff

July 27th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

The Government of Canada is making it easier for Canadians to drive electric — transforming the way Canadians get to where they need to go.

Malls are installing electric charging stations. Burlington has a few spread around the city.

Today, as part of #EVWeekinCanada, Adam van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Sport), on behalf of the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced a $2.3-million investment to Anvil Crawler Development Corporation to install 36 electric vehicle (EV) chargers across Ontario to put Canadians in the driver’s seat on the road to a net-zero future.

Anvil Crawler, Opus One Solutions, SWTCH, Energy+ Inc. and Elexicon Energy, along with site host partners, are also supporting this initiative, bringing the total project cost to $6.7 million.

This project is funded through Natural Resources Canada’s Green Infrastructure – Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration Program, which aims to accelerate the market entry of next-generation clean energy technologies. All chargers will be available for public use by September 30, 2022.

Since 2015, Canada has made a historic investment of over $1 billion to make EVs more affordable and charging infrastructure more locally accessible. These investments are building a coast-to-coast network of fast chargers and installing chargers in local areas where Canadians live, work and play. The government also provides incentives of up to $5,000 to help Canadians buy EVs and full tax write-offs for businesses purchasing them.

Scotia Bank set an EV charger outside a branch in the east end

These investments support Canada’s new mandatory target of 100-percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle sales by 2035. Driving down transportation emissions is critical to achieving Canada’s ambitious climate change targets and requires a combination of investments and regulations to support Canadians and industry in this transition.

The big question is – how big a dent will 36 charging stations make on the demand once there are more EV cars are being sold than pick-up trucks.  Someone somewhere must have some data on what the demand is likely to be.

Another interesting piece of data would be:  How many Members of Parliament drive EVs and when will the limo that gets the Prime Minister from place to be electric?