The city of Lethbridge now has 22 new electric vehicle charging stations at four different sites.
The Lethbridge Regional Park ‘n’ Ride Transit Terminal has 10 new stations, including two accessible parking stalls. Six new charging stations are at the Enmax Centre and four at city hall. These chargers take about eight hours to fully charge most vehicles.
The parking lot at Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens has two 100 kilowatt fast charges, which can charge most vehicles to full capacity in about an hour, according to Stewart Purkis, project lead and manager for waste and environment for the city.
“Today the mandate is that by 2035, all new vehicles will be battery only. This type of infrastructure will be required to keep people on the move. They will still use their home to charge most of the time but when a person is travelling either for business or pleasure, they’ll need access to this type of infrastructure,” he said.
Purkis said the city chose locations for charging stations strategically. “Whether you are a visitor or a citizen, why not get a charge out of taking a walk in the park?” he said. “The other thing is that it future proofs our investment because Shell, Esso, Petrocan — they can’t be here. We can provide this service to citizens and visitors here in arguably one of the nicest places in town.”
Funding for the new chargers comes from grants, but Mayor Blaine Hyggen said full details on how they were funded will be released in August.
“On behalf of Lethbridge city council, I am pleased that these chargers are now open to the public for use,” he said. “As we collectively work towards sustainable future energy use, this is a great initiative for Lethbridge and region. This project shows a commitment to supporting the transition to low-emission vehicles while also enhancing tourism and economic development opportunities.”