Federal Government investing in coast-to-coast EV charging corridor

The federal government has announced that it’s investing $4.6 million CAD in a coast-to-coast EV charging network starting in Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.

The government’s investment will help build 92 fast chargers as part of Petro Canada’s previously announced Canada-wide charging network. The Suncor-owned company pledged in February of this year that it will develop a more than 50 station fast-charging network running from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.

So far Petro Canada has plans to build 56 branded EV fast charging stations lining southern Canada, allowing EV owners to drive from coast-to-coast. This investment will help subsidize the cost of some of the units in this charging corridor.

Petro Canada’s previous map shows a route along Southern Canada meaning that in northern areas of the country there will be fewer chargers.

The chargers feature both CHAdeMO and CCS/SAE ports that are capable of providing up to a 200kw charge. Tesla owners can use these chargers too, but they need to pay for a $602 CAD adapter. 

Where is the investment coming from?

Natural Resources Canada is funding the project as part of its ‘Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative,’ which itself falls under of the Government’s $180 billion Investing in Canada infrastructure plan.

While this project is only taking up $4.6 million of this amount, the Canadian government is investing $182.5 million total to support the building of a green vehicle charging network across the country. This includes natural gas stations along popular freight corridors and hydrogen fuel cell recharging stations in cities.

That investment even features supporting research into next-generation charging technologies and standards for low-carbon vehicles in conjunction with the U.S.

To see a list of other charging stations that Natural Resources Canada is funding visit its website.

Update 11/7/2019: Petro Canada has reached out to clarify that the government’s investment isn’t to build additional chargers, and is instead to subsidize the costs of the already planned units. The story has been updated to reflect that clarification.