Beginning June 1, the City of Nanaimo will charge EV owners a rate of 2.5 cents per minute cost to charge at one of their six public EV charging stations. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

plug and pay

Charges coming for City-run electric vehicle stations in Nanaimo

Feb 28, 2024 | 2:35 PM

NANAIMO — Drivers ‘fueling’ up their cars at City-owned electric vehicle charging stations will soon have to pay.

The City plans to implement a rate of 2.5 cents per minute cost to charge at one of their six public EV charging stations, beginning June 1, in a bid to recover costs and help build additional capacity.

Jennifer McAskill, manager of facility asset planning, told Councillors on Monday, Feb. 26 the rate was decided on through a combination of what other municipalities are charging, as well as their own electricity bills through BC Hydro.

“When we did the analysis, the time cost was the way we could get a reasonable approximation to what it was costing the City, then that 2.5 cents [per minute] was based on a report we received from KPMG that outlined for those municipalities who are charging, it’s kind of middle of the road for what folks are charging.”

Between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., drivers would be charged 2.5 cents per minute for the first two hours, then six cents per minute after.

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Overnight charging would be billed at a flat rate of six cents per minute, while drivers who leave a fully charged vehicle plugged in would be billed 10 cents per minute after a 15-minute grace period.

Comparable municipalities billed anywhere between 1.7 and three cents per minute.

The idea is to recover costs borne by the City while encouraging appropriate turnover in the limited charging spots.

Payment is handled through Chargepoint, a third-party company.

“Anybody who has an electric vehicle, typically has some sort of app on their phone and you would tap that phone next to the charger, you can also tap your credit card.”

Originally installed in 2021 as part of a wider movement among local and regional governments, the City purchased five stations for public use at a cost of $100,835.

A majority of which was covered by the Regional District of Nanaimo.

An additional charging station was added to the City’s network since the initial outlay, with over 11,000 individual charging sessions recorded to date.

Vehicles typically stay plugged in for one hour, 49 minutes, but a charging session of 31 hours was also recorded.

This service, free for drivers, has seen the City pay $9,880 in electrical costs.

Stations typically have a 12-year life span and are worth around $15,000 each with annual costs, including asset depreciation, running approximately $3,000 each year.

Councillors moved through the first three readings of fee structure and other bylaws during their meeting on Monday.

Those also outlined penalties for vehicles unlawfully parking in an EV spot, as well as parking in an EV spot without connecting to the charging.

All the bylaws are expected to be formally adopted at a meeting next month.

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