Gas stations that do not install electric car charging posts may be fined

The policy is proposed by Vancouver city council and applies to fuel stations and parking lots. Currently, only two of the city’s 66 fuel stations have installed charging posts for electric cars.

The proposal is aimed at accelerating the development of electric vehicle infrastructure throughout Vancouver, and is expected to encourage more people to buy electric vehicles.

Businesses, in particular fuel stations and parking lots, will need to work on installing charging posts by 2025 to avoid potentially increased fines. Currently, the cost to register a business for each gas station is 210 USD and for the parking lot is 130 USD per year. But by the end of 2025, if there are no charging posts for electric vehicles, these businesses face annual fees many times higher.

Fuel stations may need to provide a 50 kW charging station – which is enough for a fast charging port. Parking lots will need at least 26.6 kW charging station, equivalent to 4 Level 2 charging ports. Parking lots with less than 60 seats may be exempted.

According to a 2021 survey in Vancouver, 12,000 city residents found that limited options when charging electric vehicles contributed to preventing drivers from switching from internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles.

The proposal is a way for the city government to expand its electric vehicle infrastructure while avoiding the associated costs. The plan could help increase the current few charging stations to about 100 by 2030. The fines collected could be used to encourage environmental initiatives.

But besides that, the investment in installing charging posts is not cheap, even many times higher than the fine, and is the main reason that can cause business owners to accept fines. It is estimated that each charging station costs $108,000 per fuel station, and $79,000 per car park. Businesses will need about 7-8 years to recoup the money invested.

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