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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2012 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Sun Country Highway representatives stopped in Merritt on Friday to charge owner Kent Rathwell’s Tesla Roadster and unveil Merritt’s new electric vehicle charging station in the parking lot behind the Baillie House. Placed near the Visitor Information Centre, the station should bring traffic downtown. Left to right: Rathwell, Mayor Susan Roline and regional director Rob MacGregor. Jade Swartzberg/Herald
New charger puts Merritt on electric vehicle grid EV charger should benefit Merritt’s economy, say Sun Country reps By Jade Swartzberg THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
Merritt’s new electric vehicle charging station will not only benefit the environment, it will also improve the local economy, said Sun Country Highway representatives in town on Friday.
“The big picture is the economy — we’re trying to boost accessibility to people who wouldn’t usually stop here,” said Regional Director Rob MacGregor, who quit his 30-year job as an Associate Dean at BCIT to join the Sun Country Highway team eight weeks ago. MacGregor and Sun Country president and founder Kent Rathwell visited Merritt on Friday to charge Rathwell’s sleek, electric powered Tesla Roadster, and to officially unveil the charging station, which is a joint effort with the City of Merritt. Located in the parking lot adjacent to the Baillie House, the electric charging station was installed
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have four to 10 cars sitting in your parking lot. But better than that, they’ll be spending money.” Placing the charger near the Visitor Information booth at the Baillie House was strategic in bringing visitors to the centre of Merritt, said Umpherson. While their vehicles are charging, which could take up to an hour or more, visitors have the chance to access the visitor services, eat at restaurants and shop. This fits with Sun Country’s mandate to create a Canada-wide infrastructure of electric vehicle charging stations near hotels, restaurants, shopping centres and other places where people stop.
Since the beginning of the year, Rathwell’s young company has been installing charging stations across the country with a grand total of 100 Sun Country stations to date, the majority in Western Canada. There are 18 stations on Vancouver Island alone. “We’ll probably have 1,000 stations in Canada, eventually,” said Rathwell. Until recently, electric vehicles were slow to take off because the infrastructure was weak and therefore manufacturers were wary about developing the vehicles, said MacGregor. By the same token,
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two weeks ago at minimal cost to the City and will enable electric vehicle owners to charge up in Merritt at no cost. Sun Country provided the charger to the City at no cost, after the company identified Merritt as a target zone, and Merritt paid just over $2,300 to install it. Economic Development Manager James Umpherson said the City has applied for a government grant through Plug in BC to cover the cost. “The people who drive these cars often travel in groups, like motorcyclists,” said MacGregor. “It’s very conceivable that they could do a tour and you could
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