Canada’s most populous provinces are falling behind many U.S. states when it comes to building fast charging stations for electric vehicles, a CBC News analysis shows, raising questions about whether this country’s infrastructure is ready for a transition to cleaner energy.

  • TemporaryBoyfriend@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    So, a few things…

    Most homes that I’ve been in have electricity. If you have a wall socket, you have a car charger. You might not be doing 500km every day, but you’ll be charging.

    Second, most underground parking spots can have a 15A, 20A, or 50A plugs installed. My office has underground parking, and every stall has a 120V 15A plug, included in the monthly cost of parking… PLUS it has 10 L2 chargers available, which aren’t available to the general public. This article probably only includes public infrastructure, but there is a metric fuckload of private infrastructure as well.

    Last, I’ve done trips from Montreal to Havre St Pierre (via Lac St. Jean!) and on a different trip, to Gaspé. The charging network is already very, very good. Even places without cell coverage have MULTIPLE public overnight chargers – I was astounded that Saint Michael du Squatec had three publicly available chargers, plus a campground that will let you plug into a 50A socket for free. On both trips (which lasted a month each) I had to wait for a fast charger just two times. Once for 10 minutes, and another for about 30. I realize this will change as more electric cars hit the roads – but every company (The Electric Circuit, Chargepoint, Flo, major gas station brands) are all installing new infrastructure weekly.

    • MrFlagg@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      My office has underground parking, and every stall has a 120V 15A plug

      and how many spots in that underground parking lot? Just a hundred would be another 1500amp service just for that.

      • TemporaryBoyfriend@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Maybe 100 in total? Doesn’t matter… It used to be a factory, and it’s now mixed use. They did a few modernization projects (lighting, replaced old power-hungry equipment), and reduced their average power draw by 1MW. And there aren’t that many electric cars, and they’re not all there are the same time. When I need to charge, I plug it in, but schedule the charge to start at 1am when demand drops off.