Skip to content

Ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers being installed across B.C.

Langley is seeing two of the new chargers installed before Christmas
31209402_web1_221205-LAT-MC-RalstonEVannouncement
Bruce Ralston, Energy Minister, was in Langley on Friday, Dec. 2 to mark the construction of 50 new ultra-fast-charging EV stations. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

A gas station chain is adding ultra-fast charging EV stations to its locations in Langley, across B.C., and into Alberta, with the help of provincial and federal grant money.

Parkland owns Chevron stations and their accompanying On The Run convenience stores around southern B.C., and as of the end of the year, two of those stations will sport new ultra-fast chargers for electric vehicles.

The company is doubling the number of the ultra-fast chargers from a previously announced 25 to 50 locations.

Company representatives and federal and provincial politicians made the announcement at one of Parkland’s Chevrons on 200th Street in Walnut Grove.

Each fast charging station will feature two to four charging ports.

Several of the initial 25 charging stations are already in operation, and it only takes a few weeks to install them. The first group should all be operational by the end of the year, including the location in the 9400 block of 200th Street, and another at the station at the 232nd Street highway interchange, already being built.

The next 25 will be built in early 2024.

Local politicians, including Langley East MLA Megan Dykeman, Township acting mayor Margaret Kunst, Surrey Centre MP Randeep Sarai, and federal Minister of Energy Bruce Ralston were at the announcement.

The new ultra-fast chargers will be strategically located between Vancouver Island and Calgary, most of them near major highways. The goal is to lower “range anxiety,” the fear that there may not be a charging station close by for EV drivers.

Natural Resources Canada provided a $5 million grant for the project, and B.C.’s government provided a further $1.8 million.

READ ALSO: Sales of electric vehicles in Langley rising fast

READ ALSO: Tesla to take over Jonker Nissan site on Langley Bypass

Ralston pointed to a 1,600 per cent growth in EV vehicle adoption over the last few years as both a positive sign, and a reason for more chargers.

The new ultra-fast chargers can charge a car’s battery from almost zero up to full in between 20 and 30 minutes.

That’s going to change how people stop to refuel their vehicles, said Darren Smart, a senior vice president with Parkland.

He noted that means the company will be turning towards creating destinations where people can spend that time while charging their vehicles. That means food, shopping, and clean restrooms, he said.

British Columbia is leading the country in adopting EVs, as can be seen by the large numbers of Teslas, Ioniqs, and other EVs appearing on Lower Mainland roads.

“As of September, EVs made up 17.5 per cent of new light duty passenger vehicles sold this year in British Columbia,” said Ralston.

EVs are subsidized by both B.C. and Ottawa, part of an attempt to shift driving to electric vehicles to slash carbon dioxide emissions. By 2035, the federal government has ordered that all new vehicles sold in the country be zero emission vehicles.


Have a story tip? Email: matthew.claxton@langleyadvancetimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.


Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
Read more