City council will vote this week on a bylaw amendment that would require all parking spots in new condos be equipped for electric vehicle charging.

If approved, developers will be required to install an electric vehicle (EV) charging point at each residential parking spot in a new building. The requirement would not extend to visitor parking.

Distroscale

Currently, the city requires at least 20 per cent of parking spots in new developments be equipped with EV charging infrastructure.

“Our goal is to be 100 per cent renewably powered by 2050 but we can’t do it without providing the infrastructure people need in order to make the transition to electric vehicles cost-effective and practical,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. Transportation currently accounts for 41 per cent of the city’s carbon pollution.

Robertson cited Vancouver’s current public charging network as being the largest in the province. The City of Vancouver has 30 EVs as part of its municipal fleet of vehicles, and owns 70 charging stations across the city. Meanwhile, sales of EVs have increased by 70 per cent yer-over-year since 2011.

In 2009, the city began requiring new residential and commercial buildings be equipped with EV infrastructure. At the time, just 20 per cent of parking stalls in multi-unit residential buildings were required to have charging ports, and 10 per cent in commercial buildings.

More recently, the city approved a curbside EV charging pilot for commercial businesses and single-family homes where off-street parking is not accessible.