The village of Bayfield is getting a charger for electric vehicles.
Community Development Coordination Services officer Karen Rickers says the municipality of Bluewater is receiving funding from the MTO to install the charger and it has to be in place by August. Rickers had originally proposed four chargers, with the other three in Zurich, Hensall and the Bayfield Community Centre but council decided to just go with one in from of the library on the main street in Bayfield.
Ricker says she believes the charger will generate a very small amount of revenue but they're looking at it more as an economic tool to attract more visitors to the village and spend more time in shopping and dining while there vehicle is being charged
“When you have an electric charger in a community it increases dwell time at that location, so that someone comes in, they want to top up their vehicle and while they're waiting to do that they do other things in the community, for example they shop and they have dinner, so Bayfield is an excellent location for that.”
“From what i understand there is a small amount of revenue that is generated, but it is a small amount. We're looking at this more as part of an economic development plan to increase visitorship and to service people who are in the market or already have electric vehicles.”