Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s EV/AV Report, Canada makes some big moves with more EV charging stations being stationed at Canadian national parks, Strafford, Ont. installs 24 smart intersections, and B.C. continues to invest in EV’s by investing in more charging stations.
CHARGING PARKS
The Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, Jonathan Wilkinson have announced that 28 of the most popular Parks Canada places will now have Tesla donated electric vehicle charging stations for visitors to use.
Just last year the Government of Canada committed to having charging stations at 25 of the most popular national parks across the country by 2021. They also said they would double the number of destinations offering this service to the 50 most popular places by 2025.
Parks Canada has met its 2021 goal already, and says it is prepared to meet its 2025 targets—with Tesla donating over 350 charging stations in 2019.
Currently 172 electric vehicle charging stations have been installed in 14 national parks, 12 historic sites, one national marine conservation area and in Rouge National Urban Park. At each location half the charging stations are Tesla and half are J-1772 and are included free of charge with entry fees.
B.C. EVs
Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources has announced a $380,000 investment to help the Corporation District of the Summerland build 22 electric vehicle (EV) chargers as a part of the government’s commitment to realizing a low-carbon future.
Six electric vehicle fast chargers and 16 Level 2 EV chargers are set to be placed at various public sites. The first site will open in the fall of 2020. The federal funding will be provided by the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative (EVAFIDI) and the Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program is being added on to the $150,000 the Government of British Columbia is investing in the project.
This investment is said to support the commitment the federal government has made to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 as well as the provincial governments commitment to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050. It also helps to support the government’s goal to reach its target of 100 percent of zero-emission passenger vehicle sales by 2040.
This target also paved the way to the Government of Canada decision to provide over $300 million to support the establishment of a coast-to-coast network of fast chargers for electric vehicles.
This infrastructure that results from these investments will allow people to drive and charge their vehicles across Canada.
SMART INTERSECTIONS
The City of Stratford, Ont. is among the first municipalities in North America to fit all of its traffic lights with short-range communications equipment that allows for the testing of autonomous vehicles on city streets.
InvestStratford and Rhyzome Networks announced that all 24 of the city’s traffic light-controlled intersections will now be smart intersections after Stinson ITS installed the hardware and software, which was designed by Miovision Solutions in Waterloo and Danlaw Inc. in Michigan. This will allow for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communications.
Back in 2017, the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network pledged $1 million in provincial funding to the City of Stratford for infrastructure upgrades and other projects that are related to autonomous-vehicle testing. This occurred shortly after the city was officially named an AVIN Technology Demonstration Zone.
The communications equipment also came with the installation of cameras to provide city staff and councillors real-time data on traffic, which will help to inform municipal decision-making and help with the potential development of traffic-management applications.
‘VEHICLE-TO-EVERYTHING’
Lucid Motors has revealed that they will be rolling out their flagship Air sedan with V2X. According to the company, “V2X” refers to “vehicle-to-everything” this means that the Lucid Air will have full bi-directional capabilities built in which will allows for the car to function in both vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) scenarios.
Owners of the Lucid Air will get the full use of bi-directional charging meaning they will be able to use their vehicles as an energy storage unit to power their homes. The bi directional Lucid Connected Home Charging Station is made possible by the EV maker’s integrated partnership with Qmerit.
Pricing for the Connected Home Charging Station is yet to be announced.
