For the past two years, Genevieve Boyd has been driving a plug-in hybrid car.
“I travel about 75 kilometres, so when I travel to work (the car’s) plugged in at home and by the time I get to work my battery’s depleted,” Boyd said.
Boyd usually drives into work on battery power, then goes home using gas.
But with the City of Lethbridge opening 22 new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on Friday, she can power up during the day and cut down on her fuel consumption.
“I’m spending about $200 a month on gas and the fact that I can virtually go home just on electricity, I’m probably saving about $150, at least,” Boyd said.
Twenty Level 2 chargers are now available between the downtown Park ‘n’ Ride, the Enmax Centre and city hall, each of which takes about an average work day to charge.
Two DC fast chargers are also open at Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, providing a full charge for most vehicles within an hour.
“This type of infrastructure will be required to keep people on the move,” said Stewart Purkis, a waste and environment infrastructure engineer with the city.
Officials say the additions are to address increasing EV traffic, especially as federal mandates come into effect.
By 2026, the Liberal government will require 20 per cent of vehicles sold to be electric, climbing to 100 per cent by 2035.
“They’ll still use their home … to charge most of the time, but when a person is travelling, either for business or pleasure, they’ll need access to this type of infrastructure to make sure they can stay mobile,” Pukis said.
The new chargers are the latest green initiative for Lethbridge, joining curbside organics collection and designation as a bee city.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen calls it another step towards improving sustainability.
“It just shows that we’re forever changing and becoming greener,” Hyggen said. “We need to be a part of that.”
The chargers are funded as part of a grant initiative, but the city says it doesn’t have full details right now. It’s expected those will be made available in August.
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