Canada's EV charging plan 'not very ambitious,' leaves it behind most countries, report finds

Sufficient charging infrastructure is widely acknowledged as a necessity for electric vehicle adoption, but as EVs march toward primacy, the Canadian government’s modest commitment to public charging infrastructure threatens to leave drivers competing for their next charge, a recent report warns.

Ottawa’s pledge to help build 50,000 new chargers over the next eight years sounds significant, but weighed against the rapid shift to EVs, the figure is “not very ambitious,” said Brian Kingston, head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (CVMA), which produced the report and represents the Detroit Three automakers in Canada.

Based on its current goals, Canada risks falling behind other leading EV jurisdictions, despite the country needing more charging infrastructure, on average, not less, Kingston said.

“We’re a massive country with a huge network of roads, including in rural and remote areas, where you might not have high volumes of vehicle traffic, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t build out the infrastructure because people in those communities will require it.”

COLD WEATHER

Canada’s climate, Kingston added, also contributes to its charging needs, as EVs must be recharged more frequently in cold weather.

Currently, Canada’s network of public chargers is roughly on pace with other EV adopters. According to a report last month from the International Energy Agency (IEA), there were 19.9 EVs for every public charger across Canada in 2021. The ratios in China, the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom for 2021 were 7.2, 15.5 18.2 and 21.0, respectively. The world average sits at 9.6 EVs per charger, according to the IEA.

But as the decade wears on, Canada could see its standing erode.

“Compared to other jurisdictions with similar ZEV goals, Canada has one of the least comprehensive and ambitious charging infrastructure plans,” the CVMA report warns.

The 50,000 new chargers Ottawa plans to help build by 2030 will be lumped together with the roughly 16,000 public charging stations already installed across the country.

DRAMATICALLY SHORT

Even if all those new chargers are powered up, the rapid pace of EV adoption means by 2030, those charging points will be outnumbered by EVs 70 to one, the report says.

This would leave Canada dramatically short of projections for comparable countries.

The United States is expected to have 1.3 million public chargers up and running by 2030, the IEA report says, a ratio of about 30 EVs per charger. The United Kingdom is expected to have about 35 EVs for each charger, while a ratio of 25 to one is forecast for the European Union. In China, where drivers are expected to rely far less on in-home charging, the IEA forecasts 10 EVs to each public charger. The agency did not break out projections for Canada.

How much public charging infrastructure is needed to support EV fleets remains an open question, but the IEA said whether drivers reside in single-family homes or multi-unit apartments, as well as the distance they typically drive, are two key indicators.

SLOW EXPANSION

As is the case in Canada, the United States’ relatively high proportion of garage-equipped homes has allowed public charging networks to expand more slowly than in countries, such as China or South Korea, with far higher population density, the report says. But this will not continue indefinitely.

“As the market evolves and more consumers replace conventional vehicles with EVs, even in countries with high shares of single-family dwellings, the reliance on public charging solutions will increase,” the IEA report says.

The Canadian government said it has already supported construction of 25,000 chargers, both completed or in-progress, but acknowledged “more chargers are needed.”

A statement from Transport Canada did not directly address the risks of a charging station shortfall raised by the CVMA, but it said fresh funding was allotted in the 2022 budget to build more chargers. An additional $400 million was awarded to Natural Resources Canada, which has been supporting charger deployments since 2016. The Canada Infrastructure Bank also received $500 million to invest in “large-scale ZEV charging and refuelling infrastructure that is revenue generating and in the public interest.”

STRATEGIC

Despite the new spending announced in the budget, Ottawa has not upped its 50,000-charger commitment.

Meantime, not all industry insiders see the federal spending as insufficient.

Cara Clairman, CEO of non-profit EV advocate Plug'n Drive, said Canada will need far fewer chargers than many automakers and industry organizations like the CVMA are predicting.

“We don’t use them like we use gas stations … The stats will tell you 80 per cent of EV drivers charge at home at night.”

Because the bulk of Canadians will plug in in their own garages, Clairman said Canada needs “be strategic,” building out charging infrastructure in locations that EV owners who live in multi-unit buildings or have street parking can make use of.

—With files from Greg Layson