“There’s just simply no way that someone will…purchase an EV if they realize that their home is not able to accommodate a charger,” Kingston said.
If the federal government is going to mandate that new-vehicle sales reach 100 per cent electric by 2035, it must also ensure that every province is “on the same page” on charging infrastructure in new MURBs, he said.
Multiunit charging regulations would have the greatest influence in denser cities, but nearly half of Canadians could be affected. According to the 2021 census, 47.5 per cent of the population lived somewhere other than a detached house.
DESIGNED TO CHARGE
Denis Arsenault, president of the architecture and engineering company Spitfire Design Co. in Moncton, N.B., said more developers of rental apartments are asking for chargers in their designs. But the percentages remain relatively modest.
One of Spitfire’s recent projects included four parking spaces with chargers, plus roughed-in electrical infrastructure for six more spaces. This was typical of a 60-car garage, Arsenault said.
These developers are also “being proactive,” as neither New Brunswick nor Nova Scotia requires chargers in new builds.
But the extent of the future-proofing depends on the type of project. Much of Spitfire’s recent work has been higher-end developments that cater to retirees looking to downsize, Arsenault said. Builders behind the luxury projects are much more likely to install chargers than those building lower-income apartments, he said.
Yet with most EV drivers doing about 80 per cent of their charging at home and Ottawa calling for all vehicle sales to be zero-emissions by 2035, even new parking garages with a handful of EV-ready spaces will soon be dramatically behind the times.
Every parking space in a new development today will eventually be occupied by an electric vehicle, said Mark Marmer, owner of the Markham, Ont.-based electrical contractor Signature Electric. It “just seems sensible” that new spaces be wired for EVs during initial construction, he said.
“It would level the playing field for everybody, and everybody who got a parking space would have the opportunity at some point to … have an EV in their space,” Marmer said.
Doing the electrical work as part of the initial construction is also far cheaper than trying to refit a building later, Marmer said, adding that it could be half the cost of a retrofit, depending on the project.
“It’s just way more economical,” he said, and the garage layout could be optimized to accurately predict the amount of power required from the utility.
Arsenault agreed.
“It’s a lot easier to do it upfront,” he said, pointing to issues such as a lack of wiring and underpowered electrical panels when trying to add chargers after the fact.
INSTALLING STALLS