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Okanagan city leading the charge on electric vehicle use

Summerland’s charging stations are 20 times as busy as they were five years ago
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(Image by John Arendt)

Motorists in Summerland are making the switch to electric vehicles as the municipality’s charging stations are busier than ever.

Tami Rothery, sustainability/alternate energy coordinator for the municipality, said the number of charging sessions and the number of charging minutes have both risen considerably.

The three charging stations were installed in April, 2013.

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In 2014, the first full year of operation, there were 43 charging sessions, with a total of 4,155 minutes of charging time.

The following year, the number had increased to 53 charging sessions and 8,027 charging minutes.

By last year, the stations were much busier than they had been in their first years of operation.

In 2018, there were 740 charging sessions, with a total of 88,770 charging minutes.

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Rothery said community showed foresight by installing the three Level 2 stations in 2013.

“It was really great leadership from the committee and the council of the time,” she said

At present, the municipality is planning to apply for funding to install two Level 3 charging stations.

The Level 3 stations allow much faster charging than the existing Level 2 stations.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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