COVID Adaptation and More EV Funding!
March 2020 has been a pivotal month. The outbreak of Covid-19 has had a significant impact to all businesses, including ours. Our main agenda this past month, has been to keep our team healthy and eliminate the risk of Covid-19 infections in our day to day operations. A number of our large projects have experienced delays and we have suspended most of our residential installations in order to fall in line with the BC Health guidelines for Social Distancing.
As we live through the most unbelievable worldwide event, it is important not lose focus of our goals. We are staying positive and planning for the future! Our team is looking forward to moving delayed projects all the way to completion, only when it is safe for our team to work effectively.
We are incredibly thankful for the all of the support from the Provincial and Federal Governments for small business dealing with this crisis. It’s the most major mobilization of support funding since WW2 which puts into perspective on how unpresented and impactful this even is.
In much more positive news, The Government of B.C. has announced new funding for the EV charger rebate program. Rebates for eligible chargers are available from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 or when funding runs out, whichever comes first.
Just to recap, this incentive is specifically for Multi-Unit Residences and Workplaces
· Constructed prior to municipal bylaws: Up to 50% of purchase and installation costs of eligible, new, Level 2 (208-volt or 240-volt) charging stations or energized outlets to a maximum of $14,000 (no more than $2,000 per station). Dual-port stations count as two.
· Constructed after municipal bylaws: Up to 50% of purchase and installation costs of eligible, new, Level 2 (208-volt or 240-volt) charging stations to a maximum of $5,000 (no more than $350 per station). Dual-port stations count as two.
· Workplaces: Up to 50% of purchase and installation costs of eligible, new, Level 2 charging equipment, to a maximum of $14,000 (no more than $2,000 per station). Pre-approval is required.
· The Residential Charger Rebate has been lowered to $350 (from $700)
More information about this program can be found at the following link.
This round of funding for the B.C.’s EV charger rebate program is incredibly welcome. The top up in funding shows a deep level of commitment from the Province to get this infrastructure into buildings, therefore speeding up the adoption of electric vehicles in our region.
The BC Hydro program has been incredibly popular, and we have had 6 busy months conducting large installations in Strata Complexes throughout the Lower Mainland. Typical installations consist of 4 or more Networked Level 2 chargers, either in individual owners parking stalls or in shared visitor stall areas.A
The other noteworthy program that is currently accepting applications is the National Resources Canada, Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program. We have been working with a few customers on submitting applications for large installations of 20 or more Level 2 chargers. The program will fund Up to 50% of total project costs, to a maximum of $5,000 per connector. More information about this program can be found at the following link.
It’s a great time for a discussion, planning and working on your buildings EV Charging project. We are aware that a number of organizations like Plug in BC, Emotive and Metro Vancouver Regional District, are working towards developing webinars about EV charging, this should be a great information session for Strata Councils wanting to learn more about EV Charging. We will post more information on our social media site once this has been scheduled.
If you are interested in installing EV charging infrastructure in in your Multi Unit Residential Building, workplace or single family home, call Cielo Electric for a fully comprehensive site assessment. Ph: 778-862-4109 or visit www.cieloelectric.ca for more information.
