Canadians who drive EVs will soon have more options for where to charge their battery.
The Canadian government recently announced it is collaborating with Tesla to help install nearly 3,000 EV chargers in various public and private locations to diversify and further encourage the use of EVs in the country.
Canada wants to have 750 charging connectors in public locations available to all EV drivers to utilize, per the Canadian government's announcement.
Canada-Tesla Partnership Details
Canada mentioned in its recent announcement that it is working with various vehicle manufacturers and charging service providers, such as Tesla, to advance the deployment of charging infrastructure while supporting Canadians to make the switch to EVs.
An Engadget report mentions that the Canadian government plans to install nearly 3,000 EV chargers in multi-use residential buildings, offices, public places, and fleets nationwide with the help of its automaker partners. Most of them will be Level 2 chargers capable of charging a dead EV battery in around three to eight hours; some of the 3,000 will be Level 3 chargers that can provide a sufficient charge for 100-250 miles in 30-45 mins.
As part of this collaboration, Tesla will open a portion of its existing Canadian Supercharger network to non-Tesla electric vehicles, wherever site hosts allow. The first on the Canadian government's agenda is the piloting of an open Supercharging route for EV drivers between Sudbury and Ottawa, which will play host to many of the 750 charging connectors Canada is planning to place in public locations nationwide by the end of 2025.
The charging connectors on this supercharging route will be made by retrofitting existing charging connectors and creating new ones; non-Tesla EV drivers could also use these chargers to charge their vehicles.
350 of the 750 chargers Canada plans on placing for its open Supercharging route will be 250kW Superchargers, allowing non-Tesla drivers to quickly charge their EVs compared to others. For context, a 250kW Tesla Supercharger could provide enough battery charge for a Tesla Model 3 Long Range to reach as far as 75 miles in only five minutes, per Tesla.
The Superchargers could even charge EV batteries at rates of up to 1,000 miles per hour if applicable.
The Canadian government plans to distribute these open chargers across Canada for EV driver convenience.
EV Propagation In Canada
The EV market is as healthy as ever in Canada - the country's energy regulator reports that 86,032 EVs were registered in the country in 2021, while the first quarter of 2022 saw the highest EV quarterly registrations on record at 26,018, which is 7.7% of the total vehicle registrations during that period.
Auto News Canada reported in Nov. 2022 that Canadian EV sales were up by a third by that time, though the country is still lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of EV transition. The switch from internal combustion engine vehicles or even hybrid vehicles to EVs is proving difficult due to a lack of public charging facilities, a problem that Canada is working to solve.
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