Travel to southern Vancouver Island’s seaside tourism hot-spots between Sooke and Port Renfrew will soon be more practical for drivers of electric vehicles.

 

An array of electric vehicle (EV) chargers are coming to Sooke’s commercial core as part of an expansion effort at the town’s largest shopping plaza and a municipal-led commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Evergreen Centre’s planned addition of a 6,400 square foot commercial building, which will include a Tim Hortons drive-thru and two yet-unnamed retail or office tenants, will feature four EV chargers in a reconfigured parking lot adjacent to a BC Liquor Store and the upcoming Tim Hortons.

 

The EV stalls, situated off the main entrance of the shopping centre at 6660 Sooke Road, will grow Sooke’s EV charging capacity to eleven vehicles, although only two of the seven existing public chargers are situated in the town centre (at the Village Foods grocery store plaza) with the remaining five at Sooke Harbour House, the Prestige Hotel, Seaparc Leisure Centre (two chargers) and at the T’Sou-ke First Nation offices on Lazaar Road.

 

The four stalls at Evergreen Centre are not expected to come online until at least 2020, however, as the chargers will be part of a larger beautification effort that will realign the plaza’s main entrance off Sooke Road while introducing overall parking and pedestrian realm improvements alongside the retail space expansion.

 

The District of Sooke is also looking at adding six chargers to the municipality as part of a plan to help the community reduce its carbon footprint. The district has allocated $75,000 towards the effort and will seek additional funding through the Green Infrastructure: Climate Change Mitigation Sub-Stream CleanBC Communities Fund. No specific installation dates or timelines have been announced.

 

With the addition of Evergreen Centre’s and municipal chargers, Sooke’s charging capacity will grow to at least 17 stalls by 2021 (approximately). The combined efforts will allow residents of Sooke to purchase electric vehicles even if charging capabilities are not available at their homes, which has been an ongoing issue for would-be EV purchasers facing limited or unavailable at-home charger access.

 

The seaside community of Sooke on Victoria’s Westshore is a popular stopping-off point for travellers heading west along the rugged Highway 14 corridor that connects towns and popular tourism destinations on the western edge of southern Vancouver Island.

 

With a greater population nearing 20,000 inhabitants, the town of Sooke and its adjacent communities are one of British Columbia’s fastest growing areas and a gateway to coastal tourism destinations between Victoria's Westshore and the village of Port Renfrew. C

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