Community Outreach Incentive Program (COIP) Funding Helps Promote Electric Vehicle Uptake In B.C.

Thompson Okanagan

Jan 25

Written By Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association

Community groups and local governments throughout the province can receive funding through the Community Outreach Incentive Program (COIP) to educate and encourage people to switch to electric vehicles (EVs).

The Province is providing $118,000 through COIP under a partnership with the Emotive outreach and awareness campaign to support B.C. communities, organizations and local governments delivering local and regional EV-awareness campaigns that include video production, EV events and demonstrations.

This year, COIP funding was also provided to the Clean Transportation Targets and Planning (CTTP) pilot that supports target setting, policy planning and implementation to encourage the transition to EVs as well as other forms of transportation, such as walking, cycling and public transit.

“More people than ever before are discovering the benefits of switching to electric vehicles in communities across the province,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. “With CleanBC, our government is working hard to support people with affordable and clean transportation options that work for them.”

The COIP and CTTP pilot align with the goals and targets in the Province’s recently released CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, which details a range of expanded actions to accelerate the transition to a net-zero future and achieve B.C.’s legislated greenhouse gas emissions targets. These actions include strengthening the Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) Act to require 26% of light-duty vehicle sales to be ZEV by 2026, 90% by 2030 and 100% by 2035, which is five years ahead of the original target.

Quick Facts:

British Columbia is leading the country in transitioning to EVs with more than 60,000 light-duty EVs on the road.
British Columbia was the first place in the world to have a 100% zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) law and is leading North America in uptake rates of EVs at nearly 10% of new light-duty vehicle sales in 2020.
The Community Outreach Incentive Program is funded by the Province of B.C. and is administered by Plug In BC, a program of the Fraser Basin Council Society.
Emotive is a B.C.-wide outreach and awareness campaign that encourages the accelerated adoption of EVs in B.C.
The Roadmap to 2030 also includes a focus on efficiency-first transportation actions, including committing to increasing the share of trips made by walking, cycling and transit, including commuting for work and personal activities, to 30% by 2030, 40% by 2040 and 50% by 2050, as well as a 25% reduction in vehicle kilometres travelled by 2030 (from 2020 levels).