Quebec to roll out Canada's first public EV charging network
The Canadian province of Quebec has announced that Canada's first public electric vehicle charging network will arrive in 2012.
The project, led by Hydro-Québec and partners RONA, les Rôtisseries St-Hubert, METRO and the Agence métropolitaine de transport, call it Canada's "Electric Circuit." Charging stations will be installed at the partners' headquarters as well as at several AMT park-and-ride facilities.
The "Electric Circuit" will initially consist of about one hundred 240-volt charging stations, to be rolled out gradually (to accommodate for gradual adoption of EVs, of course). Four-hundred volt "quick-charge" stations will be deployed in 2012.
It starts in the metropolitan areas of Montréal and Québec; if successful, it will be extended to other cities and sites in the province. Still, officials see public charging to comprise just 20 percent of the places drivers will recharge; the other 80 percent will be a mixture of home and work.
Charging will cost a flat fee of about $2, which will include the cost of the electricity and access to a prime parking spot. Locations will be chosen based on ease of access, the companies said.
The stations themselves will be tested in a climate-control chamber at Hydro-Québec's research institute to ensure they can stand up to the region's bitterly cold weather.
Hydro-Québec will provide a charging station locator service and CAA Quebec will provide 24/7 telephone support.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com