Electric vehicle registrations in 2022 eclipse previous 5 years combined in N.B.

Mike Quinn had been thinking about buying an electric vehicle for some time, but when gasoline prices soared above $2 per litre last spring, he decided it was time to make the switch.

"It's been awesome, to tell you the truth," said Quinn, who bought a battery-powered Kia Soul. It travels 100 kilometres on 20 kilowatt hours of electricity, which is about $2.45 at current power rates.

"I'm 100 percent behind them. The savings have been great, the power you get from them is great. Definitely the driving experience is much better."

Figures released this week show New Brunswick drivers like Quinn newly registered 571 fully electric vehicles in 2022.

It's a sign that a long-predicted consumer migration to EVs in the province may finally be gathering momentum. 

Electric vehicles were just 1.7 per cent of all new registrations in New Brunswick for the year, but the 571 units behind that number was more than the previous five years combined.  

It's a trajectory the province believes will lead to six per cent of new vehicle registrations being electric within three years and 50 per cent within eight years. That would mean the addition of up to 20,000 new electric vehicles per year in New Brunswick by 2030.

But that is stoking worry New Brunswick does not have a sufficient network of public charging stations to easily handle rapidly rising demand — an issue that could stifle interest in EVs just as it is finally building.

"We see this as a huge problem in Atlantic Canada," said Julia Kent, the director of social responsibility and advocacy for CAA  Atlantic. 

"For the number of EVs on the road today, public charging across Atlantic Canada isn't up to where it needs to be."

Late last year, CAA conducted a survey of more than 16,000 Canadian owners of electric vehicles, including 214 in New Brunswick, and the second-largest concern they expressed before they bought was about the availability of charging facilities away from home. 

After buying, it became the number one worry, with 44 per cent of current electric car owners calling it a problem.

"That is the big issue for people," said Kent.

"Is there going to be a public charging station where I am going, and is it going to be functioning and available to me when I need it?"

Most owners of electric vehicles charge them at home. But longer road trips require recharging, and that can cause problems in the absence of enough locations.

Quinn said he has run into that problem himself. Last summer he got caught in a lineup outside Moncton waiting to plug in, and he shares concerns that the current charging infrastructure is too thin to serve electric cars already on the road, let alone what is coming.

"They definitely need to upgrade the the network," said Quinn.

"If there's two or three people waiting in front of you, you could be there for three or four hours before you get a chance to plug in. If you're trying to get somewhere in a day, you don't want to spend two or three hours on the side of the road."

Charging stations in the province are both publicly and privately owned.

There is a particular shortage of expensive fast-charging stations in New Brunswick, and in June, N.B. Power plans to ask the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board for the freedom to cut prices on the electricity sold to charging station owners to encourage the installation of more units in more locations.  

The utility is also asking for "approval to waive general rate increases for EV charging rates" to keep prices down and improve the viability of privately owned stations.

Kent said anything that will help build out New Brunswick's charging infrastructure quickly, given the number of electric vehicles expected on local roadways, is important to do.

"Public charging has to adapt," said Kent. 

"These concerns are absolutely valid. There needs to be as many public chargers as there are gas stations and right now that's just simply not the case."