EV charging hits (or misses) home

The rise of electric vehicles has many moving parts, and we don’t necessarily mean the ones found beneath the body panels.

It seems like every day that Automotive News Canada is reporting on new battery technology, supply-chain partnerships and infrastructure challenges.

Automakers are striking mineral deals in Canada to make sure they can build batteries for their EVs. If you told me two years ago this would happen, I wouldn’t have believed you. That’s how rapid the change is right now.

Acquiring minerals will largely govern the rate at which automakers can build EVs to sell. Put simply, no minerals, no EVs.

In another story on charging infrastructure, there’s no cohesive national plan for adding charging stations to new residential developments. This is an issue since nearly half of Canadians live in condominiums, rental apartments and other homes that lack private driveways.

Some cities are requiring installation in buildings, but that’s hit or miss, and more miss than hit.

There’s still a long way to go until 2035 when all new passenger vehicles sold will have to be zero emissions. How much will change before then? How many more moving parts will there be?

For infrastructure, it seems logical to at least wire new multiunit buildings for EV chargers, and to have a national strategy or code to do so.

Brian Kingston of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, which lobbies for the Detroit Three in Canada, thinks it’s imperative.

“There’s just simply no way that someone will... purchase an EV if they realize that their home is not able to accommodate a charger.”

We agree, for now, but how should that happen when the technology is a fast-moving target?

For example, if charge times can be brought down to, say, 20 minutes at 240 volts AC, does a new building really need a charging station for each parking spot? Can there just be a few that residents can book for 20 minutes when needed Consider that we’ve never had a gasoline supply at home for our internal-combustion vehicles.

I’m sure some readers would argue that if there’s robust charging infrastructure outside the home, then home charging is not necessary. That infrastructure, by the way, is another moving part of the EV picture.

And what if hydrogen becomes the dominant form of power? Then there’s no plug needed. Hydrogen is a long-term play, but there will be many breakthroughs in battery-electric technology to reduce charging times and increase range. We’re already seeing that with solid-state batteries, which are much more energy dense and faster charging than current lithium ion technology.

So, what are multiunit developers to do? They don’t want to spend money if they don’t have to, and forcing them to install charging stations for vehicles that have been mandated by the federal government doesn’t seem fair, especially if the charging stations are not being used. But if the tenants want to plug in, then it makes sense to at least have the available power on the parking level to do that, no matter what form that takes.

According to a story on Page 17, the obstacles are likely greater for existing buildings that need to be retrofitted at significant expense.

It’s a tough call when technology is evolving and charging infrastructure is being built elsewhere for our daily commutes. And what if the next federal government abandons the 2035 sales target and lets the market dictate EV adoption? Don’t forget, EV momentum — from vehicle manufacturing to battery plants to the supply chain — is being driven by the feds.

Like we said, the rise of electric vehicles has many moving parts that can’t be predicted.