The future is electric. In 5 years, 10, 20... at some point, almost everything will be electric. If you have (or are planning to have) an EV in Ontario, then this post is for you. in the last few years, the province has developed the Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario (EVCO) grant program. As of today, EVCO is working with 24 public and private sector companies to construct electric vehicle charge stations across the most populated province of Canada.
The Ontario Electric Vehicle Charge Station Expansion Plan
EVCO's short-term goal is to complete 500 charging stations across Ontario. The current plan is as follows:
- 300 Level 2 Stations (with 240V charging stations that can charge a vehicle in 4 to 6 hours)
- 200 Level 3 Stations (with 480V charging stations that can charge a vehicle in 30 minutes)
These charging stations will be placed at 250 locations, and it will be the most massive Level 3 public network in Canada.
Current State & History of the EVCO Program
Almost 66 percent of the network has already been completed. So far, the stations have been installed in Tim Horton’s restaurants, IKEA parking lots, the Pearson International Airport and municipal properties.
The EVCO Program started in December 2015, and the initial priority of the program was to evaluate potential locations. The first 3-months were spent on collecting applications from various businesses and partners who were interested in participating. After receiving over 200 applicants, the EVCO team went through an evaluation phase to determine an optimal network across various city interconnects.
Level 3 locations were chosen to promote inter-city travel and Level 2 locations to promote in-city travel. Once the strategy was in place, EVCO started to put the plan into action. The already established charging stations will regularly be monitored to optimize future use further and figure out gaps in the grid.
Prominent EVCO Partners
Currently, there are 24 EVCO partners with more than $19 million in funding. Here are the top 3 ones:
• Koben Systems Inc (KSI): KSI is the most prominent partner. Its total EVCO funding is more than $11.3 million for 126 Level 2 stations and 97 Level 3 stations. You can find out more information at the KSI Website.
• Toronto and Region Conservation Authority: Its total EVCO funding is $2.6 million for 22 Level 2 and 10 Level 3 stations. More information on the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority website.
• Electric Circuit: Its total EVCO funding is more than $1.4 million for 7 Leven 2 and 12 Level 3 stations. Find out more at the Electric Circuit website.
