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The Cadillac Fairview Richmond Centre is a very large shopping mall in Richmond, British Columbia, not too far from Vancouver. It has over 160 retail stores and is a transit hub servicing the SkyTrain system and buses. Next to the Richmond Centre is a 12-tower redevelopment project with residences. Recently, a huge number of electric vehicle chargers were installed in the parking area: 1,212 smart Level 2 EV chargers. This massive EV charger installation has chargers for Richmond Centre residents and an additional 20 to 40 will be added for members of the public to use.
Two months ago, I conducted a brief interview about the installation of 92 EV chargers at a multi-residence complex. That’s a pretty big one and obviously helps the residents who live there and who have EVs be able to conveniently charge at home while they are sleeping, working from home, or taking a stroll. It’s far more convenient to refuel hands-free while doing something else, and right where you live. It also demonstrates the speed at which EV chargers can be installed in large numbers, and they are a technology that will replace gas station pumps, both for gasoline and diesel fuel. An installation with over 1,200 EV chargers demonstrates charging hubs and charging ports can be installed in large quantities, not only one or two at a time.
One source was quoted about the British Columbia chargers. “Enlightened Building Technologies says the project could replace more than 21 million kilometres of gas-powered driving and save about 2.2 million litres of fuel.”
Of course, the point of using fully electric vehicles and installing EV chargers in convenient places is exactly this replacement of gas and diesel vehicles with fully electric ones. There are over 150,000 electric vehicles in British Columbia, according to BC Hydro. The same source published some information about EV driver satisfaction. “The largest ever survey of electric vehicle owners in Canada, conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association in 2023, found that 87% of EV drivers surveyed in B.C. said they enjoy driving their EV more than their former gas-powered car. The survey also found that 96% planned to buy another EV when it was time to replace their electric, and 96% said their EV was more affordable than a gas-powered car.”
Another point worth noting is that the 1,200 EV chargers were installed at no cost to the homeowners who will use them.
Adding more EV chargers in places where there aren’t any or too few is precisely what is needed to support greater adoption of electric vehicles. It is not necessary to have electric vehicles with 700 miles of range and oversize batteries when there are plenty of EV chargers available. Additionally, most EV charging happens at home and generally speaking people may tend to overestimate how much they drive.
The future is clearly electrified transportation combined with clean, renewable electricity. In fact, British Columbia is a clean energy leader with a great deal of its electricity produced without fossil fuels. “Most British Columbians probably know that their province excels at renewable power generation. The provincial government, via BC Hydro, is proud to advertise that it produces more than 98% of its power supply from renewable sources, mainly from hydropower dams.”
Just consider this for a moment: over 1,200 new EV chargers operating on mostly clean electricity.
Thank you to the reader who sent the tip to us about the huge EV charger project.
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