Juergen Weichert works on an electric bike in his shop.
Electric vehicle users in Centretown may encounter roadblocks when it comes to recharging in the city.
Although new homes are required to have outdoor or garage outlets, condominium and apartment building parking lots are not.
Peter Chaloner, director of the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa, says some new condominium buildings may provide outlets in parking lots, but in Centretown, many are being converted from old apartment buildings.
“Those built even 20 years ago were not designed to have individual parking spots with hydro access,” he says.
Juergen Weichert, former president of the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa, estimates there are thousands of electric vehicles in Ottawa, though few are new cars such as the Chevrolet Volt or Toyota Prius.
Some people have converted gas vehicles to electric by replacing the motor with lithium batteries, while others have added electric motors to bicycles and trikes.
“If you can’t charge your vehicle at your home, you have to resort to guerrilla charging,” says Weichert.
He says it is extremely satisfying to find an outlet, for example outside a Canadian Tire or at a fire station, to plug into when his battery runs low.
For electric car owners, an overnight charge will get them through their daily commute, but apartment and condo residents may face a challenge trying to find one.
Electric vehicles can be plugged into any standard 120-volt outlet.
The Chevrolet Volt, according to the manufacturer’s website, can charge completely in 10 hours on a 120-volt outlet, at a cost of less than $1.50. Once charged, electric cars can drive about 80 to 100 kilometres.
With more people turning to electric vehicles, Chaloner says decisions about where people can charge their vehicles cannot be left to individual condo corporations. He says there should be consistent municipal guidelines.
Even if residents offer to pay for hydro used in common areas such as lobbies or parking lots, Chaloner says the issue remains the same.
“You can’t leave it to a condo board to decide how much Joe is going to pay for his hydro and Suzy is going to pay for hers,” he says. "They’re not in that business of determining who is paying how much from the common pool.”
One solution could be to install charging stations and absorb the cost through a levy. Use could be regulated through a meter, and drivers using the station would be billed directly.
Charging stations run on 240 volts, twice that of standard outlets, and can reduce charging time by half.
The only public charging stations in the Ottawa region are at the Wakefield Mill and at the Adobe building on Preston Street. Chargers at the Wakefield Mill are available free of charge to overnight guests.
Blair Powell, a former Adobe employee, converted his gas-guzzling Volkswagen Jetta to electric more than two years ago.
“Having access to a charging station at work was a great convenience,” he says.
The two charging stations, available free of charge to employees, resemble gas pumps and are unlocked by swiping an access card. Doing so releases a connecter that plugs into the car. At the end of the charge, the station calculates the amount of electricity used.
Powell says the cost of fully charging his vehicle from empty at home is less than $1, based on a calculation of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
In August 2011, the provincial government announced an $80-million program to install electric vehicle charging stations throughout the province and offer incentives for electrical vehicle owners. The aim is to have one out of every 20 vehicles in Ontario electrically powered by 2020.
Windmill Developments has plans to install charging stations in a new development at Bronson and Sparks streets, set to open in 2013.