The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources, announced on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, an investment of more than $1.7 million to the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) to address barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption.
“Canadians want greener options to get to where they need to go. We’re making EVs more affordable and charging infrastructure readily available, allowing Canadians to be in the driver’s seat on the road to a net-zero future,” said the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Natural Resources.
The Government of Canada is building a clean energy future to strengthen the economy, create good, middle-class jobs and support the natural resource sectors. This is more important than ever as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“BCIT pioneered the concept of campuses as living labs of sustainability – such as the Smart Microgrid – as part of our unique education model to engage the community in solving real-world challenges. This investment further expands applied education opportunities for students and researchers to partner with industry in creating innovative and sustainable solutions that support the environmental, social, and economic prosperity of our country,” said Kathy Kinloch, President, BCIT.
The funding will support the expansion of the EV Charging Network Management System developed by the BCIT Smart Microgrid Applied Research Team. The team will demonstrate EV infrastructure solutions that improve interoperability issues, grid efficiencies, and drivers’ charging experience.
“This investment from the Government of Canada for the Smart Microgrid project will help continue the research to find EV infrastructure solutions,” said Dr. Kim Dotto, Dean, Applied Research and Centre for Applied Research and Innovation. “The Institute is an innovative and flexible advanced technology hub, fostering and maintaining the research momentum at BCIT which helps to fulfil our mandate of providing excellence in applied research and innovation to industry and students.”
BCIT, along with AddÉnergie, City of New Westminster, IBX Data Systems, and Sun Country Highway, is also investing in the project bringing the total funding amount over $4.1 million.
The transportation sector accounts for 25 percent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. Data collected through this project will support the future integration of fast-charging infrastructure, create jobs, and contribute to an increased uptake of EVs.
The federal funding for this project was provided through Natural Resources Canada’s Green Infrastructure – Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration Program, which aims to accelerate the market entry of next-generation clean energy technologies.
About Smart Applied Research Team
BCIT’s Smart Microgrid Applied Research Team is working on research, development and demonstration (RD&D) initiatives aimed at solutions that will reduce barriers to the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs). These projects will build on a recently completed renewable (solar PV) energy generation, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure project called Energy OASIS, located at the BCIT Burnaby campus.