Transforming portions of the 289 km E&N Railway Corridor into a clean energy pathway — connecting communities, restoring Indigenous land ownership, and building Canada's electric future.
Under BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations Section 24.06 — which uses the term NZEV (Neighbourhood Zero Emission Vehicle) — Neighbourhood EVs (NEVs) are four-wheeled electric vehicles capable of speeds up to 40 km/hr. They can operate within defined NEV operating zones with a speed limit of 40 km/hr or less.
These are not golf carts — they are purpose-built electric vehicles, low-cost, low-speed, and built for the electric future Canada is already moving toward.
This EV classification has been legal in BC for decades. My 2001 Kelowna-built NEV (#110) was 20 years ahead of its time.
NEVs cost a fraction of a full size vehicle to buy and run, making clean transportation affordable and accessible to way more drivers.
A two-way NEV pathway can be built on gravel, concrete, asphalt, or wood — dramatically reducing infrastructure costs.
An NEV pathway opens corridor-adjacent land for much-needed housing, community and commercial development.
The dormant E&N railway runs from Victoria to Courtenay, through most of the Island's east-coast communities. Rail makes sense where density supports it — Ottawa is now funding a passenger rail study for Victoria West to Langford. For most of the corridor, recent studies found ridership too low to justify reinstatement. A low-speed EV roadway is a far lower-cost alternative.
The corridor intersects 14 First Nation territories. A pilot on any segment is led by that Nation, on its own terms — advancing reconciliation and economic development together.
An NEV corridor connects communities and opens adjacent land for housing, local business and eco-tourism.
Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are already proving that low-cost, low-speed electric vehicles work — on BC roads, under BC's own Motor Vehicle Act. What's missing is supply: the affordable, purpose-built Neighbourhood EVs the world is already building aren't yet reaching Canadian roads. EV Island is preparing a federal request, with a First Nation partner, to help open that door. Read more about the Federal Pilot →
In 2023, the Snaw-naw-as First Nation won a landmark BC Court of Appeal case that returned their portion of the corridor. Their success shows what Nation-led stewardship of the corridor can look like.