Feds fund more than 100 electric vehicle charging stations in Ottawa

The federal government has announced $500,000 in funding for electric vehicle infrastructure in Ottawa that will go toward more charging stations at Hydro Ottawa facilities, a condominium and public spaces across the city.

It's part of the government's effort to persuade more people to go electric, with an eventual goal of phasing out the sale of gas-powered passenger vehicles by 2035.

"The commitment from the federal government is to work in collaboration with the business sector, with the cities, with our provinces to develop," Orléans MP Marie-France Lalonde said at a Friday news conference.

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Of the 133 chargers announced Friday, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said 25 will be in neighbourhoods chosen through feedback from residents.

"We want to hear from the community about the best locations for these and make sure they're distributed throughout the community," he said.

"But we want there to be a network of charging stations throughout the city so that people feel comfortable purchasing electric vehicles and feel there are always places where they can charge them."

City confident demand for chargers will increase

The Level 2 stations take about six to seven hours to completely fill a vehicle's battery, a pace slower than the fastest chargers on the market.

Chargers owned by the city cost $2 per hour to use, a rate it has previously said is in line with other municipalities.

In 2022, total daily charging sessions at city-owned chargers across Ottawa ranged anywhere from zero to 47 and became more numerous over time. Sutcliffe suspects those numbers will continue to improve.

"I think we'll see an increasing number of people buying electric vehicles in the year ahead, and if they have confidence that the network is in place to support that, then they'll be more likely to make those purchases," Sutcliffe said.

He said personal electric vehicles, along with the addition of electric buses to the city's fleet, is an essential aspect of Ottawa's long-term plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero.

Industry experts have long said infrastructure will be key to the rapidly expanding market and warned that condos and businesses need to plan ahead to meet growing demand.

But vehicle owners looking to create their own charging stations often face bureaucratic hurdles.

Condos, home owners face heavy bureaucracy

Bruce Bailey was on the committee that tackled the challenge of outfitting his downtown Ottawa condominium with charger-equipped spots in its four-level concrete parking lot.

"There was sort of a myriad of complexity to it and the very nature of the fact that it's a condo, a high-rise condo, means you've got constraints in terms of condo law, your own building's declarations and bylaws of what you can and can't do," he explained after the funding announcement.

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After investigating the feasibility of adding renewable energy infrastructure, his condo board still had to pay for it.

Bailey said securing funding for 76 of its 96 spots "tipped the scales" for many who were considering an EV purchase with most residents now planning to make the switch — at some point. 

Sixty-three of the chargers were paid for by Natural Resources Canada's Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, an incentive that more than 210,000 individuals and businesses have so far cashed in on. 

The rest of the newly announced charging stations should be available for use by the end of March, 2025.