Ambitious partnership to spread EV usage

BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Making electric vehicles an attractive choice for commuters will apparently take a lot more than photo opportunities and memorandums of understanding — like the one agreed to at the B.C. Institute of Technology in Burnaby.

The Project Get Ready deal struck between BCIT, the City of Vancouver and non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute was launched symbolically when two electric vehicles were plugged in by Mayor Gregor Robertson, BCIT president Don Wright and Tripp Hyde of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

Under the deal, BCIT will lead the development of a five-year plan to get Vancouver ready for electric cars.

The city is already testing one all-electric Mitsubishi iMiev in its fleet, and B.C. is scheduled to become the first province in Canada to get the all-electric Renault-Nissan LEAF in 2011 — ahead of its worldwide release in 2012.

But the power grid will have to be enhanced for those vehicles with additions like quick-charge stations and more overnight charging outlets.

Not even BC Hydro can say how much all that will cost, according to Donna Leclair, the Crown corporationÂ’s chief technology officer.

“What we do know is to support charging at any scale of electric vehicles will require a more robust and more intelligent grid,” Leclair said.

“BC Hydro is working to develop strategies for how we will roll out that intelligent grid. But this is a multi-year project.”

The Rocky Mountain Institute works on challenges related to energy and resources and will bring best-practice knowledge from other areas to help Vancouver.

Hyde, the RMI’s Project Get Ready manager, said a so-called “smart”, or intelligent, grid will be useful when dealing with transmission issues.

“The Department of Energy in the U.S. says that 70 per cent of the fleet [of light-duty vehicles] could be converted to electric vehicles without having to produce any more electricity,” he said. “But if you were to plug all those in at the same time, you would ruin the grid.

“It’s going to be the same in Canada. You have to figure out some way to stagger the charging.”

A “smart” grid could conceivably do that.

Ben West of the Wilderness Committee supports the idea of zero-emission vehicles, but is concerned about the infrastructure required.

“What I’m still trying to figure out is ‘Are there new power lines involved?’ Where would they go?” said West.

He remains convinced the region needs more rapid transit to alleviate congestion.

“We could all be driving around in electric cars, but if we pave over all our farmland in the process, that’s still moving in the wrong direction,” said West.