Supporting Residential EV Charging While Minimizing Costly Electrical Upgrades

CHALLENGE

BC Hydro needed to help more residents access home EV charging while avoiding costly electrical service upgrades that could slow adoption. This aligned with British Columbia's CleanBC Roadmap goals of eliminating emissions from new cars by 2035, but many homes lacked the electrical capacity for Level 2 charging.

SOLUTION

Through a partnership with NeoCharge, BC Hydro now offers customers a $200 rebate on Smart Splitters as an approved EV power management device. This solution enables customers to safely share their existing dryer circuit with an EV charger through automated power management - when the dryer turns on, the Smart Splitter automatically pauses EV charging and resumes once the dryer cycle completes. By utilizing the home's existing NEMA dryer outlet (most common in British Columbia being the NEMA 14-30 outlet), customers avoid the cost and complexity of installing a dedicated 240V circuit while still accessing the faster charging speeds of Level 2 charging. For BC Hydro, this approach delivers multiple benefits: customers avoid expensive electrical upgrades, the grid is protected from overload without infrastructure modifications, and EV adoption barriers are reduced. The Smart Splitter program provides a simple way for BC Hydro to support their clean energy mandate while maintaining grid reliability - particularly valuable in BC where charging EVs produces minimal greenhouse gases compared to other regions due to the province's renewable energy resources. Due to the plug-and-play nature of the Smart Splitter, customers can order and install themselves without the need of an electrician. Customers submit their purchase receipt to BC Hydro after installing the Smart Splitter to be automatically rebated.

https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/electric-vehicles/rebates-incentives/rebates-ev-power-management-devices.html