for bc stratas
is designed to maximize value and minimize hassles and stress for strata owners.
Why become EV ready?
As of 2025, EV market share in BC is already at 25% and it will continue to increase. By 2030, 90% of new vehicle sales will be EVs. By upgrading now, you increase the value of your property, future proof your building, and attract EV owners as owners or tenants. Generous incentives in the form of rebates are available now from BC Hydro, but they may not be available in the future. Your building’s parking lot will need to be upgraded sooner or later regardless, so you may miss out on the rebates (which can be up to $137,000) if the rebate program ends or the funds are exhausted. Furthermore, by deploying EV chargers in your parking lot, you will be eligible to earn BC carbon credits that can be converted into passive revenue for as long as the program lasts.
How we can help
In our experience, the biggest obstacle for BC stratas to become EV-ready is the amount of technical expertise that would be required – finding suitable chargers and installers, scheduling installations, dealing with BC Hydro’s documentation requirements, and so on. Strata Councils are usually run by volunteers and have little time and resources to focus on such large scale projects. This is where our expert team comes in. We offer chargers at unbeatable prices, we bring in our team of expert engineer and electrician partners, and we handle all of the complex tasks for you. At the end of the day, you will have a fully electrified parkade, chargers for any unit that wants them, maximum rebates from BC Hydro to offset your costs, and passive revenue from the carbon credit exchange, all for minimum hassle.
How it works
An EV-ready upgrade and commitment to an EV charging platform such as AmpForce will typically require approval from the homeowner association, as expenditures need to be approved and bylaws may need to be amended. To this end, our team will work with the Strata council to prepare a pitch to be presented at either the next AGM or a special meeting called for this purpose. We may do a preliminary assessment of the existing electrical infrastructure to provide a quote for the required infrastructure upgrades.
Once the owners approve the conversion and we reach an agreement, you will be assigned a case worker who will guide you through the rest of the process. Your case worker will work with the property management and our installation partners to streamline the process and minimize all burdens on the Strata Council.
The first step is to prepare an EV-ready plan for submission to BC Hydro. This plan must be approved in order for the project to qualify for the BC Hydro rebate incentives. The case worker will contract this out to one of our engineering partners. They will assess the parkade, do the necessary load calculations, then prepare and submit the plan for approval. This process usually takes a month to complete. The strata corporation will receive a rebate from BC Hydro for this consultation (50% of the cost, up to $3000). Your case worker will apply for this on your behalf.
Once the EV-ready plan is approved by BC Hydro, you must complete the installation and infrastructure upgrade within six months. Your case worker will work with Strata Council and the installation partners to find a time period that works for all concerned parties. The actual work may take several weeks to complete, but in most cases there will not be any planned power outages for the main areas of the building.
The installation partner will upgrade the electrical infrastructure and install the agreed-upon number of chargers in the designated stalls. AmpForce technicians will onboard the chargers and make sure they are properly connected to our management platform. After the work is done, the chargers will be ready to use and your case worker will apply for the BC Hydro rebates on your behalf, which are as follows:
- 50% of eligible infrastructure upgrade costs, up to $600 per parking stall or $120,000 overall
- 50% of eligible costs for chargers (hardware and installation), up to $2000 per installed stall or $14,000 overall.
Once the chargers are up and running, we will provide onboarding and 24/7 technical support for your drivers. We will also collect the necessary data to redeem and convert carbon credits on your behalf, and remit the sale price to you in the following year (minus a 20% commission). Depending on the amount of charging, these credits can generate significant revenue – to the tune of recovering the original capital investment over 2-3 years.