How is Electric Vehicle Charging Improving in Canada?
How is Electric Vehicle Charging Improving in Canada?
Posted on August 31, 2022
It’s one of the biggest reasons many Canadians have been slow to embrace Electric Vehicles: availability of reliable battery charges on the road. This is a big country (in case you don’t already know that) and getting from one end to the other is entirely doable, but that hasn’t been the feasible in an EV.
It’s understandable that drivers would be skeptical of taking a long journey in a battery-powered vehicle if they don’t know when they would be able to charge it up along their journey. If you were only commuting to and from work, you could easily charge your vehicle’s battery every night at home and have enough juice to get through the day. It’s those long trips that seemed out of reach.
Nearly every major automaker now offers a fully electric or at least hybrid option in their line-ups, which means there are more and more people out there working on increasing the efficiency of car batteries. This can only be a good thing for those of us still waiting to dip our toes into the EV pool.
Battery technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years, not quite to the point where it can match an internal combustion engine, but it’s getting there. You can be sure that by the time 2035 comes around and ICE vehicles are no longer a viable option for Canadian consumers, that technology will be exactly where it needs to be. Then we’ll be able to drive across this great, beautiful country with ease.
We’re not at that stage of the game just yet. EV charging stations are becoming more prevalent along highways and in smaller towns, but it’s a work in progress. A quick Google search shows there are plenty of companies working on getting charging stations out there and creating simple to use apps to find them. Contactless payment options make it even easier to charge your vehicle and get back on the road.
As of right now, even the fastest charging stations take quite a bit longer than filling up the gas tank. Some vehicles can get from 120 KMs to 900 KMs of range in a thirty-minute charge, depending on the strength of the station’s output. One way to look at it is this: use the time to refuel yourself along with your car. Plug in and grab a snack or some water, stretch your legs after a long stint behind the wheel, or check your socials (because we know you aren’t doing that while driving).
Bottom line: don’t be afraid that driving an EV will limit where and for how long you can travel. As technology advances inside the cars, it advances outside as well, and you can reap the benefits.
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