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Kootenays to receive up to 100 new electric vehicle charging stations

Natural Resources Canada is investing $1 million into the initiative
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An electric car is seen getting charged at parking lot in Tsawwassen, near Vancouver. Photo: Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

The Kootenays will receive 90-100 new electric vehicle charging stations thanks to a $1-million investment by Natural Resources Canada.

The federal energy department announced Thursday it will place stations in a variety of locations throughout the East and West Kootenays as well as the Kootenay Boundary.

“We’re making electric vehicles more affordable and charging more accessible for Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” said federal energy minister Jonathan Wilkinson in a statement.

“Investing in more EV chargers, like the ones announced today in British Columbia, will put more Canadians in the driver’s seat on the road to a net-zero future, and help achieve our climate goals.”

No charging station locations have been announced yet, but a spokesperson said it was taking applications for the program and hopes to have the stations installed by 2023.

The initiative follows the 2018 roll out of the Accelerate Kootenays network that installed 13 Direct Current Fast Charger stations and 40 slower Level 2 stations in the region.

The provincial and federal governments have said all new cars and light-duty trucks sold must be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Natural Resources Canada says electric vehicle sales grew by 421 per cent in the Kootenays between 2018 and 2021.

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