Invermere is all charged up

Invermere is taking the lead by installing charging units for electric vehicles in town

In Invermere, drivers of electric vehicles simply need to pull up and plug in. — Photo courtesy District of Invermere

Invermere may be a picturesque small town nestled into the mountains, but perhaps it's these beautiful surroundings that have provided inspiration for the community's sustainable initiatives. Invermere has signed on to the carbon neutral B.C. plan with targets through till 2020. It has also created a community sustainability plan called Imagine Invermere.

Electrified initiative

A recent step for Invermere has been the installation of two chargers for electric vehicles in the community. One is located at the District of Invermere office downtown while non-profit society Groundswell Network led an application to install one at Kicking Horse Coffee. Rory Hromadnick, Invermere’s director of development services, said that the whole process was fairly simple.

“(The chargers are) actually quite small,” he said. “They’re maybe twice the size of a standard computer monitor. You do need significant power. We didn’t have any spots on our panel downstairs, so we had to put in an additional panel, but it only took the electrician about three or four hours to hook it up. It wasn’t really a big deal.”

The units that have been installed were ordered through a Canadian company called Sun Country Highway. For now, it’s free for an electric vehicle (EV) to charge up in Invermere, but the units that have been installed have the capability to eventually process payment. The cost in electricity for a full charge depends largely on the capacity of a battery. Regardless, the cost of running an EV is more than a bargain when compared to running a vehicle with a gas engine. The Chevy Volt, one popular brand of electric vehicle that is also capable of efficiently using gas to create a charge, costs somewhere in the neighbourhood of two to four dollars for a full charge.

The way it works

The units ordered through Sun Country Highway charge faster than an EV owner can expect from a standard plug-in at home. These can provide charge at up to 400 per cent faster than even a 25-amp outlet. Although cars can charge up fairly quickly, there is still a bit of time for drivers to wait. The District of Invermere hopes that visitors will use the service and the time it allows to enjoy their town.

Ultimately, Invermere is showing leadership in an up-and-coming industry. The charging posts have been used several times already, and they’re listed on PlugShare, a site and phone app to help EV owners find places to charge. Still, it is a long-term initiative that is expected to fill a growing need.

“We originally had three units approved in combination with the school board,” said Hromadnick, “but it’s one of those things where having them available feels like the right thing to do, (although) at the end of the day there’s just not that much of a demand right now. I mean, it would be great if we needed 50, but at this point we don’t, so we’re going to monitor the electrical use and see how it goes.”

The Fraser Basin Council supplied a grant that covered up $4,000, or 75 per cent of the cost of the charging units. Invermere decided to take the opportunity to invest in a sustainable community. A little leadership initiative from a Kootenay town can’t be a bad thing.