Statistics from the Victoria Electric Vehicle Association show the Saanich Peninsula – especially Sidney – as an early adopter when it comes to the use of electric vehicles on Vancouver Island.
The figures show 8.5 licensed full electric vehicles per 1,000 residents as of March 31 – 198 total vehicles.
These figures mean Sidney ranks fourth in ownership and second on a per capita basis. Central Saanich ranks in 11th place in raw numbers, but fourth on a per capita basis.
RELATED: Sidney says it has not received any complaints about vehicles hogging EV charging stations
Perhaps not surprisingly, Salt Spring Island leads all communities on a per capita basis by a far margin, with 15.2 licensed full electric vehicles per 1,000 residents. Metchosin ranks third on a capita basis with 7.3, behind Sidney and ahead of Central Saanich.
Saanich, Oak Bay and Victoria lead all Vancouver Island communities in terms of raw numbers with 676, 239 and 212 vehicles respectively. Their larger populations, of course, mean that they rank behind smaller communities on a per capita, with Saanich in sixth place with six vehicles per capita, behind Sooke, which records 6.9 vehicles. Oak Bay ranks seventh in per capita with 5.9, while Victoria ranks ninth with 4.1 vehicles per 1,000 residents, placing it behind Langford/Highlands with a per capita rate of 4.2 and ahead of Esquimalt with 3.5.
The average of the 19 Vancouver Island communities is 3.8. Campbell River and Port Alberni share last place with 0.3 vehicles per 1,000.
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