There are two more places to charge electric vehicles in 100 Mile House as of this month.
On Thursday, March 6 the District of 100 Mile House announced that two new Level 2 charging stations have been installed at the Cariboo Mall, just beside the Rise and Grind Coffee House. These stations are owned and operated by the District of 100 Mile House and will cost $2 an hour to use. Mayor Maureen Pinkney said these new charging stations will help contribute to the economic development of the community.
"We were looking for a place that had enough parking that we didn't want to take away from usable parking for everybody. This is a little bit out of the way but very handy for people to plug in and walk away and spend a bit of time shopping while their vehicle is charging," Pinkney said.
To install these new chargers the district has worked closely with both the Community Energy Association and Cariboo Mall to find a suitable place to install the charge point system. These stations charge cars over several hours, meaning that EV motorists will have time to visit local shops and restaurants, especially the ones in Cariboo Mall.
Pinkney said this has been a two-year project for district staff, noting they wanted to have four public EV charging stations in the community. She also added they encourage private businesses such as gas stations to install their own, such as the one recently put in by Chevron.
"We do know electrical vehicles are just going to keep growing, so it's a good opportunity," Pinkney remarked.
In their release announcing the opening, the district noted that as more people switch to EVs over traditional vehicles, 100 Mile House needs to take steps to attract them. By setting up charging infrastructure the district hopes to entice them to stop, charge and appreciate what the South Cariboo has to offer. These stations will also serve as an alternative for the DC Fast Chargers that are set up at the South Cariboo Visitors Centre across the road.
"People can stop there and do a little more stretching their legs and walking around a beautiful marsh trail and checking out our visitor centre," Pinkney said. "Hopefully some of them would cross the road over to our stores but having these two up at the Cariboo Mall will definitely get people right into our shops. The more time they spend in town, the longer they spend money."
These new chargers are also part of the larger Charge North EV network, a collaboration between over 40 local governments to bring public EV charging infrastructure to northern BC. Funding for this network was provided by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Northern Development Initiative Trust and the Province of BC, along with support from the Northern BC Tourism Association, BC Hydro, and the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
The District of 100 Mile House itself contributed $10,000, or $5,000 per charging station. They noted in their release these chargers would not be possible without the support and cooperation of the owner of the Cariboo Mall.
Pinkney added that in addition to bringing in new business and tourism to the area, these new stations might also help indirectly encourage people to move to 100 Mile House.
"I don't think people realize how much tourists spend in our community from May to October. Being the highway corridor to Alaska a lot of people stop here," Pinkney said. "We have a lot of people here now who first came through here as tourists. We don't know where our next resident will come from and maybe it will be that person who happened to stop and needed a charge."
