Electric vehicle news and resources
Catch up on our EV stories and access helpful links
Our recent EV news and reports
- Driving Forward: BC Hydro's EV charging progress report [PDF, 5.7 MB]
- Charging ahead: BC Hydro triples its EV fast charging network size in just one year
- BC Hydro and TransLink unveil two new EV fast charging hubs at Lower Mainland Park and Rides
- BC Hydro launches its first EV fast charging hub in northern B.C.
- BC Hydro adding fast charging hubs at ICBC Claim Centres in Surrey, Abbotsford, and Courtenay
- BC Hydro launches its first EV fast charging hub in the Okanagan, featuring new higher-powered charger
- Statement: B.C. Utilities Commission approves energy-based rates for public charging services
Our recent EV stories
- Canada-wide EV road trip: 18 months, $10,000 in fuel savings
- Low-carbon B.C. nickel will bolster Canada's EV battery supply chain
- Power management device and optional rate a fit for new EV owners
- Surrey happy to host electric vehicle fast charging hubs
- EV charging etiquette is mostly just common sense
- Four EV road trips showcase fast charging options in B.C.
- Burnaby embraces EVs, district energy to reduce GHG emissions
- We answer questions from an electric vehicle 'newbie'
- From 1 to 6.6 million, electric vehicles by the numbers
Useful EV resources for B.C.
- Clean BC Go Electric vehicle rebate program
- Plug In BC
- PlugShare
- ChargeHub
- Emotive: The Electric Vehicle Experience
- HOV lane decal application
- SCRAP-IT Program
EV Associations
Thinking about transitioning your fleet vehicles to EVs? Fleet electrification offers many benefits for your business. It also requires careful planning to realize the benefits while maintaining the efficiency of your fleet.
To help with this planning, we've developed a fleet electrification guide. The guide can help you understand your EV options, as well as develop an implementation plan that works for you. We also offer an assessment service. This assessment will help determine how to set up your electrical infrastructure for EV charging.
Are you a municipality, First Nation, local government or commercial property owner that's considering adding public EV chargers on your property?
We provide industry-focused information and resources to help create safe, usable and reliable public EV infrastructure in B.C.
- Best practices for fast charger design and operations
- Best practices for Level 2 charger design and operations
Interested in hosting BC Hydro chargers? Learn about how we plan our network and propose a site.
We've created a step-by-step guide for getting EV charging infrastructure installed at multi-unit residential buildings. For help navigating your strata, check out how to request EV charging in your building or request support from an EV advisor. For further guidance, visit Metro Vancouver's site, evcondo.ca.
Learn about incentives for the installation of charging stations and related electrical infrastructure at multi-unit residential buildings.
See examples from stratas in B.C.
Learn how three stratas took three different approaches to adding EV charging to their multi-unit residential buildings.
Not ready to install chargers in your building? Public charging can still support your strata's EV journey. Find BC Hydro chargers near your building.
Increased system demand
Can the BC Hydro electrical system handle the increase in demand?
The increased demand from more EVs is something we've been planning for and will be able to supply. The estimated electrical demand for electric vehicles by 2030 is 1,300 gigawatt hours per year, which is about 2% of total demand. We've included electric vehicles in our load forecasting since 2011 and have carefully planned for their increased adoption. Our Integrated Resource Plan maps out different scenarios and the resources that will be used to meet the demand.
We regularly monitor our local distribution systems and upgrade them to meet new neighbourhood demand as a normal course of business. It's also important to note that most home EV charging happens overnight, when electricity use is typically at its lowest, which helps manage overall demand.