The steady increase in electric vehicles on roads in Ottawa is driving motorists to look for locations in the city to charge them.
A report by the CBC says that Mayor Jim Watson has proposed building a charging station for these vehicles at city hall. Owners of electric cars would have the ability to charge their batteries for free.
The expectation of more electric vehicles on city streets in the coming years is creating a demand in Ottawa, but there are currently no recharge centres available to the public. Watson intends to bring the idea before the city’s environment committee, seeking approval for the project as early as September.
“City hall is certainly a visible and symbolic location for a pilot charging station,” said Patrick Quealey, chairman of the city’s environmental advisory committee, in an email. He stresses the importance of harmonizing any local projects with larger provincial projects to ensure consistency. The committee has yet to hear from the mayor’s office regarding details of the proposal.
The CBC reports that a U.S. company has approached Watson with designs for a station capable of charging four to six vehicles, powered entirely by the sun. These high-capacity stations have the ability to fully recharge cars in 30 minutes. The mayor’s press secretary, Bruce Graham, says the plans are in the early stages and specific locations for the city hall charging stations are unknown.
This proposal has been met with lukewarm response from local electric vehicle advocates, who think there are more effective options. Darryl McMahon, president of the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa, said there is value in having more charging stations that aren’t necessarily high-capacity.
“Looking at the most common usage for vehicles in the city being commuting, cars are parked for up to eight hours,” he says. “Charging over the course of the day would be, overall, more efficient.”
McMahon says that the rise of electric vehicles has the potential to create change in urban areas. For every 10,000 electric vehicles, it’s estimated there will be 40,000 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide produced every year. These cars improve downtown air quality, water and soil and contributes to significant noise reduction.