EVs stand out on commuter routes in Metro Vancouver

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Data analyst Eric Hedekar works mostly out of his home office in Port Moody, but doesn’t hesitate to buy the Hyundai IONIQ 5, the family’s all-electric SUV, when needed, even for long business trips to college in British Columbia. Get in.

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“At best, even the trip to and from UBC is close to 10% of battery usage,” Hedekar said. “You don’t have to worry about charging at all when driving around town.”

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Hedekar and his wife, electrician Jacqueline Nichols, average about 360km per week on the IONIQ 5 intermittently, but the number of EV owners who use their cars for longer commutes is much higher. has increased significantly. ICBC.

As of 2021, according to the latest figures obtained by ICBC, insurance agents counted 4,078 passenger EVs insured for commutes greater than 15 km in the suburbs of Surrey, Coquitlam, Langley and Abbotsford alone. , up from just 105 in 2017.

According to ICBC, this represents approximately 30% of the 13,483 EVs ICBC has licensed in these municipalities in 2021, out of 59,000 EV passengers across BC in 2021. It remains a small but growing component of BC’s 2.7 million motor vehicle population.

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Federal and state rebates totaling $8,000 for moderate-income buyers and increased availability of fast-charging stations have supported demand. The beloved IONIQ 5.

“It was the first (EV) that was good enough,” says Hedekar. These boxes include a quick charge for the family to travel to her 100 Mile House every three weeks and the cost of accounting for rebates collected within 80,000-100,000 km.

Hedekar estimates that urban driving costs around $1.96 per 100km, depending on where you charge.

Compare this to an efficient internal combustion engine that consumes 6 liters of petrol every 100 km. That’s about $9.83 at 163.9 cents a liter at a gas station in Vancouver on Tuesday. This is down from his $14.40 in September when gasoline was 239.9 cents per liter.

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B.C.’s EV fleet may still make up just 2% of the cars on the road, but EV sales will account for 14% of new cars sold in the first half of 2022, says Blair Qualley of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C. CEO said. BC’s zero-emission vehicle rebate program.

“I think BC has been over that weight on the EV front for a while now,” said Qualley, an early adopter with a rebate and the government working to install charging infrastructure. pointed out.

Compared to the few different EV models on the market a decade ago, most manufacturers have cars for consumers to choose from, and more consumers are exposed to EVs, Qualley said. says.

“People are seeing them on the street and hearing conversations about shopping malls, restaurants, highway rest stops and even charging stations at gas stations,” Qualley said. . “I think it’s just all of these things, this long, slow progression piling up.”

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But according to EV consultant John Stonier, who is also former chairman of the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association, the apparent low number of electric vehicles available has always been a limiting factor in the size of BC’s EV fleet.

“The only reason there aren’t more cars on the road today is supply chain issues,” Stoneier said. He said not only now, but always, with the shortage of microchips slowing the production of all cars.

“They are their own problem because[they]sell so fast that there is no (EV) inventory in the lot,” Stonier said, driving much of that demand. has always been a long-distance commuter.

One long-distance commuter Stoner knows bought a Nissan Leaf in 2015 for her 250km round trip commute from Vancouver to Chilliwack.

Today, however, the average driver only travels about 30km per day, but a vehicle range of 350km on a single charge is fairly standard, and consumers are more likely to drive long road trips than ever before. , says Stonier.

depenner@postmedia.com

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