A 24-unit residential development in the West Kootenays is now EV ready—and the number of electric vehicles has tripled—thanks to rebates to support infrastructure upgrades and some pro bono contributions from innovative residents.
Heddlestone Village is a 24 unit co-housing development about 14 km north of the City of Nelson in BC’s Central Kootenay region. The Village consists of 12 duplexes, privately owned residences with a mix of owners and tenants, and shared spaces co-managed through the strata corporation.
Residents park in a shared lot about 100 metres away and, up until recently, there were only three electric vehicles (EVs) in the community. But in 2021, the Village residents did an assessment of their greenhouse gas emissions. They decided the best way to collectively lower their emissions was to switch their personal vehicles to EVs. To accomplish this, they would require the installation of dedicated EV chargers in the parking lot for each unit.
A few interested residents took the lead to investigate, budget and plan for the EV charger installation—and then convinced their neighbours to take the leap collectively. Through the hard work of these volunteers, who contributed countless hours of their time pro bono, the project took off. One of these volunteers even contributed their technical expertise to help develop a new open source system for managing chargers and reporting on power consumption.
As part of their planning, the volunteers found ways to maximize contributions from the CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Program, and with the support of a local electrician who helped lower costs further, the project was successfully completed at a reasonable cost.
Providing dedicated EV charging to every unit spurred an immediate boost in EV interest within the strata. In the first year after installation, the number of EVs in the community more than tripled—rising from 3 to 10.
Download our case study
Learn the full story behind Heddlestone Village’s push for EV charging infrastructure, along with 5 key lessons for other strata, a guide to applicable EV charging rebates, in this case study prepared by CEA for Emotive, a program of the Province of BC.
Photo credit: Heddlestone Village.
