More on-street electric vehicle chargers could be coming to Ottawa

One big barrier for drivers switching from gas to electric cars is public access to charging stations, but Ottawa may soon have more places to plug in.

Throughout the city, there are some electric vehicle charging station at on-street parking spaces – like one on Beechwood Avenue.

But a local councillors says more are needed.

“We need to have many more across the city if we are serious in terms of accommodating the future,” Coun. Rawlson King said.

More chargers in more places is the crux of a King motion city staff are looking at and councillors will debate next week.

“We know that electric vehicles are going to be very important if we want to fight climate change. One of the challenges that we know exists in Ontario is that there are not enough charging station,” he says.

“I think it’s just very important for us to ensure that we start to deploy this infrastructure as we start to see more demand, especially on main streets.”

There are 24 ‘Level 2,’ on-street chargers at 12 locations across Ottawa, plus others in parking lots throughout the city where drivers pay to power up.

“You want to give people the opportunity to be able to plug in when they’re doing their shopping, when they’re doing their groceries, when they’re accessing services – wherever they are,” says King.

“It’s definitely a good idea, we need more on-street charging,” says Raymond Leury, president of the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa.

“We want to make sure that people who have less money are able to buy and electric car and charge somewhere, so that they can also benefit of the lower operational cost of electric vehicles,” he says.

Not everyone can charge at home, he added.

“It’s quite a struggle for people to get charging in condos and multi-unit residential buildings.”

It’s good for tourism too, he says. People can visit downtown and have a full charge after theyre finished.

King's motion will be before the city's environment and climate change committee on Tuesday.

Here are the 12 locations of the 24 on-street charging stations in Ottawa:

• Adjacent to 6 Oak Street
• 113 Beechwood Avenue
• 122 Daly Avenue
• 170 Primrose Avenue
• 186 Main Street
• 190 Richmond Road
• 245 Crichton Street
• 301 Laurier Avenue East
• 930 Wellington Street West
• 283 Cyr Avenue
• 118 Cartier Street
• Adjacent to 1551 Lycée Place