Kaleden, B.C. resident shocked with cost of EV charger upgrade | 24CA News
When Kaleden, B.C., resident, Lyle Roemer, went to construct a brand new storage, he had the house wired for a future electrical automobile (EV) charger whereas additionally planning for a rise in service to accommodate the added load.
However, Roemer was shocked to listen to the estimated price of the improve.
“[My] house is almost 40 years old, it’s got 100-amp service which is quite common for older houses, nowadays 200 amps is more normal. Because of the addition of the possible future load, it requires an upgrade to 200 amp for my main electrical service to the house,” mentioned Roemer.
“They’re telling me anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000. They’re picking up probably 40 to 60 per cent of what they told me, but that gives you an idea that this push for [electric vehicles] is not quite as simple as it turns out.”
According to Roemer, the greater than $5,000 price is basically as a result of older electrical infrastructure and the prevailing system within the subdivision in addition to his location to the FortisBC transformer.
“When you put in that application, they send it to the electrician department and they came back and said because this was for the old subdivision, we have to upgrade some of the infrastructure,” mentioned Roemer.
“That means a new poll, a new transformer at my house to service this load.”
In an e-mail to Global News, FortisBC mentioned that is one thing that they’ve seen previously as extra owners use electrical energy for extra issues of their properties. Often an improve of the prevailing gear is required to fulfill capability wants.
“Through the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, FortisBC works with the provincial government to offer rebates for installing charging stations in homes, multi-unit residential buildings, and workplaces,” mentioned FortisBC in a launch.
Although Roemer’s estimate is location particular, he believes it demonstrates that system infrastructure is just not prepared for the key push of electrical automobiles.
“There’s lots of wiring that if even just three or ten people start adding on, eventually the pole structure all the way back to the transformers and substations, they’re going to have to be upgraded — it’s going to cause a huge amount on infrastructure upgrades, and that’ll have to be passed down to ratepayers at some point,” he mentioned.
“I just want to make sure people are aware of yes, okay, great I want to put an electric vehicle charger in my house. Well, ask all the questions before you get too far into it because you might be surprised.”
In Penticton, the town has launched a brand new program to permit house buildings to determine simply how a lot it could price to put in an EV charger.
According to the City of Penticton’s Sustainability Supervisor David Kassian, they’ve already acquired quite a lot of functions for the free ‘EV Ready Plans.’
“Speaking to some stratas, a barrier to them was the upfront cost of the plan itself. Oftentimes the plans are very comprehensive, and they can cost about $4,000 to implement. There are rebates back from the government, but it’s still that upfront cost that is troublesome for some stratas to move forward on,” mentioned Kassian.
“EV Ready Plans are a specialized report that lets multi-unit apartment buildings know what it will take to get one energized stall per residential unit – we set aside a certain amount of funds for about 15 buildings to prepare those EV Ready Plans.”
Funding for the EV Ready program is coming partially from the City’s new Blue Skies Transportation Fund.
Meanwhile, FortisBC mentioned as extra folks in B.C.’s Southern Interior transition to electrical automobiles, the corporate’s community of public EV charging stations continues to see big progress in utilization.
“Exceeding 30,000 charging events to date,” learn the FortisBC launch.
“FortisBC’s EV network includes 42 fast-charging stations across 20 communities in the Southern Interior, with the majority of the stations placed along major highway corridors, allowing drivers to travel through the region with confidence.”
For now, Roemer says with the prices of set up a cost at house might need to attend.
“To upgrade a small amount and then you face those costs, it really kind of doesn’t justify the move to EV vehicle for us,” he mentioned.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
