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New EV stations charged

Electric cars can power up in NV City

ELECTRIC vehicle owners suffering from "range anxiety" can breath a little easier knowing the City of North Vancouver has brought two more EV charging stations online.

The stations, which are open to the public, are in the laneway off 13th Street east of city hall and on parking level 1.5 of the city library. They are both Level 2 stations with an output of 240 volts, which will fully charge an EV with a dead battery in four to six hours, or provide a top-up in less than an hour.

"The city continues to embrace green technology and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Mayor Darrell Mussatto in a press release. "These new charging stations represent our ongoing effort to provide more sustainable transportation options to the community, and are part of the rapidly growing network of EV friendly infrastructure in municipalities across the country."

This brings the total number of publicly available EV charging stations on the North Shore to 17, with new locations scheduled to pop up in the coming months.

The city is planning to install additional charging stations at various locations, including a station at Centennial Theatre and a DC Level 3 charging station in Lower Lonsdale. Level 3 stations can fully charge an EV in approximately 15 minutes. More than 100 will be online in the Lower Mainland by the end of 2013.

The new EV infrastructure is being welcomed by the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association. Charging stations are good investments for municipalities because they make their cities more attractive to visitors who otherwise would avoid places without charging stations to get them home, said association president Bruce Stout.

"The average person with an electric car has a universe that's about 50 to 60 kilometres around their house," Stout said. "With the City of North Vancouver putting in two more charging stations, it will entice more electric vehicle owners from outside the City of North Vancouver to come in and spend money."