[Sean Nelson]

According to this press release, BC Hydro has finished Phase 1 of its EV charging infrastructure rollout, "allowing drivers to travel across B.C. from the Alberta border to Tofino". I've been watching fast chargers pop up on PlugShare like dandelions across the province over the past few months - it's been an incredible year for the EV infrastructure here.

There's good connectivity to the Alberta border via the Crowsnest Pass, but fast chargers are still missing in BC's eastern reaches of the Trans Canada highway. I'd like to see one in Golden and, ideally, Field. I understand that these were supposed to be installed as part of the Accelerate Kootenays project, but I haven't seen them on PlugShare yet.

Usage seems to be taking off, with BC Hydro reporting that charging sessions at their existing stations are up 66% over last year. That's impressive growth.

Their next phase, presumably next year, is to go north from Kamloops to Prince George, and eventually to Prince Rupert. I hope they'll go right across the Yellowhead as far as Tete Jaune Cache as well. If they do that, along with a charger in Port Hardy at the north end of Vancouver Island, it would make several circle tours feasible.

Too bad BC Hydro can't install fast chargers in Banff and Jasper...

 

[Joule]

Great news Sean, thanks for sharing. Spent a few summers water skiing throughout the interior, did the PC trail... Gods country. Being able to enjoy it in an EV will make it that much better. My feeling is that upcoming model additions and continued infrastructure rollout over the next few years will likely dwarf the reported 66% growth seen this year. Tesla is supposed to complete electrification of the TransCanada from east to west by the end of this year, and I am hoping that has a knock-on effect with all the other players. Looks like a trip back to Tofino/Ucluelet might be in order.

 

[Paul Gipe]

Great news Sean. How long did it take BC Hydro to complete the roll-out? They're a big bureaucracy and I am curious if it takes them 3 years to get anything done like our private contractors and the CEC here in California.


A few of us tried banging on the CEC a few years ago to speed up deployment with little luck. What we did get were the "Inter-regional Corridors" that they weren't even talking about at the time. They were just doing the north-south routes of the West Coast Electric Highway.


As I've noted we're now close to breaking ground on those east-west stations. I've been driving electric four years now. . . finally seeing something.


Paul

 

[Sean Nelson]

Great news Sean. How long did it take BC Hydro to complete the roll-out? They're a big bureaucracy and I am curious if it takes them 3 years to get anything done like our private contractors and the CEC here in California.

I first got wind of the upcoming changes over the winter, but I have no idea how long they've been in the works. The stations pop up on PlugShare with the "wrench" icon (future station not yet operational) and then seem to take a couple of months to go live.

There's a station at the Real Canadian Superstore on Marine Drive in Vancouver that shows the "wrench" icon for a couple of months, and so far I've seen no hint of anything where it's supposed to be installed.

Real Canadian Superstore seems to have agreed to host a lot of these fast chargers - I count five or six of them on PlugShare across the Lower Mainland. I just charged up at one in Mission this morning. I typically spend the waiting time doing some grocery shopping, and I've probably dropped at least a few hundred bucks on them already, whereas I've never really patronized them before.

 

[Sean Nelson]

PlugShare is now showing swaths of new DC fast chargers across the more northerly sections of British Columbia, including northern Vancouver Island - and across the Prairie provinces as well. Many of these seem to be at Petro-Canada or Canadian Tire locations. They're currently showing with a "wrench" icon which means they're not operational yet - but I'd guess that by summertime we're going to have a lot more coverage.

Northern Ontario still seems to have a dearth of fast chargers, though.

 

[Powerwagonpete]

I just drove down from prince george, looking for the chargers there talking about. Nothing has been done yet

 

[cmuzyka]

There are active DC fast chargers in Spence's Bridge and Boston Bar. The ones in Williams Lake, Quesnel, Hixon, 107 Mile, 70 Mile, and Cache Creek aren't done yet.