Posted yesterday at 4:00 p.m.
In cities like Montreal, how will electric cars be charged? Along the sidewalks? The majority of these homes have no garage or driveway.
Julien Cordeau
Mr Cordeau,
The first thing to know is that technology is changing rapidly and new electric cars usually have a range of 400 km or more.
Daniel Breton, President and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada, also points out that charging is done much faster than 10 years ago. At the time, it was considered that it took one hour to accumulate the energy needed to travel 30 km. Today, fast charging stations can accumulate 400 km of autonomy under the hood in 20 minutes.
“And it will go on accelerating,” underlines Mr. Breton.
In short, the idea that it is absolutely necessary to plug in your vehicle all night, every night, is less and less true.
For those who do not have parking, a first option is to use the terminals on the street. The Electric Circuit, Hydro-Québec’s public charging network, has more than 3,400 public charging stations in the province, including 600 fast charging stations.
The rates ? With a 240 V station, for example (the “standard” station, as opposed to a fast station), it will cost you either $2.50 per charge, or $1 per hour.
Montreal, which participates in the Electric Circuit, has deployed more than 1,000 electric terminals on its territory. Too few ?
“If you walk in the streets, you will see that there are many terminals that are not used, answers Simon-Pierre Rioux, president of the Association of electric vehicles of Quebec. There are times when they are more, but for those who have electric vehicles, at the moment, it works. »
Provincial statistics also show that, on average, a charging station is used less than once a day.
It must be said that other networks are added to the Electric Circuit, including that of FLO, a subsidiary of the Quebec company AddÉnergie. The manufacturer Tesla also has its own network of “superchargers”.
In Montreal, fast terminals have also been installed in downtown underground parking lots. And businesses are starting to board. For example, Jour de la Terre has partnered with the grocer IGA to install 100 charging stations in the parking lot of its stores.
“The City of Montreal also wants to enter into a partnership with Montreal institutions and businesses, including service stations, shopping centers and supermarkets, so that they can participate in the development of the network of public charging stations”, says Hugo Bourgoin, public relations officer at the City.
The idea is that owners of electric cars can charge their vehicle while they shop, have a coffee or have a bite to eat. Employers can obviously be involved (even if we want workers to favor active transportation or public transportation to get to work!).
Another option is to deploy charging stations, like gas stations, with multiple charging stations. Montreal has four of these “poles” and wants to increase the number.
Communauto, which manages 120 fully electric vehicles in Montreal, knows the charging challenge well. In his case, things are more complicated, since the cars are shared. If a user plugs a car into a public charging station in the evening, for example, the next user may not pick up the vehicle until the next day. Communauto is often charged a rate for the whole night, when the recharge may have only taken a few hours.
For this reason, the company must deploy employees who move and plug the vehicles. Marco Viviani, vice-president, strategic development, points out, however, that for a user, it is a simple way to have access to an electric vehicle if there is no parking lot or charging station.