Electrify Canada

[MarcoRP]

Went to the Montreal Auto Show today, and on Volkswagen’s stand was a superfast charger module hooked onto an E-Golf. It is an Electrify Canada charger. On the back of the charger model were some basic info of a superfast charger and a rollout plan starting in the 2nd quarter of 2019. Included was also a map of 32 Electrify Canada locations coming soon in a very unhelpful map for people who don’t know their Canadian geography (see photo). Anyway, soon were probably going to start seeing some sites going up, so if you do find one, post here.

(P.S. if anyone is going to the car show, the Wi-Fi password in advance is siam2019)

 

[doubeld]

It's like the flat-earthers of Canadian geography... nothing in between Calgary and Toronto

 

[bpjod]

It's like the flat-earthers of Canadian geography... nothing in between Calgary and Toronto

To be fair, Tesla's been at this much longer and their results to date aren't much better: no SuperChargers between Calgary and Sudbury.

 

[doubeld]

If you build it, they'll come.
You could likely cover the entire Trans Canada for 10-20 million with DCFC. To only cover urban areas primarily is worrying about $$$$ and not supporting the cause -- VW is only in this to make money. There is a critical mass of people with EVs in cities-- enough to support as a commercial venture separately. If you can make a gas station profitable, you can make EV chargers profitable. Thinking about this more, it might be up to the federal government to make this happen as the current numbers don't make this feasible for VW or Tesla to jump.

Personally speaking, it bothers me a tiny bit every time I see a new DCFC or SuperCharger being built within 10km of an existing DCFC yet someone in Calgary can't even drive to Winnipeg with anything better than L2 charging. Sure, you are helping those apartment dwellers or people traveling to Muskoka, but to travel a single direct route for 3000km and not see a single DCFC hurts the chances of anyone on that route actually having the motivation of buying an EV.
Someone in Vancouver isn't going to run out of charge driving from their million dollar condo to Whistler & back, but someone from Swift Current might not even be able to make it to the nearest away WHL game with their Mid Range Model 3. Those are the use cases that will make or break EV adoption in the areas of Canada that can see 20 kilometers in any direction.

 

[lukex4]

If Electrify Canada is using the same equipment as Electrify America, don't count on their fast chargers yet...

Electrify America shuts down its ‘high-powered’ charging stations due to ‘safety issue’

 

[S'toon]

Je ne parle pas le francais.

 

[RiverBrick]

Unlike in the USA, VW Canada hasn't faced any penalty for Diesel-gate other than compensation for TDI owners.

So, Electrify Canada is only a "voluntary" effort.

The number of TDI vehicles sold in Canada was approximately 19% of the total in the USA. However, Electrify Canada's 32 sites is far from 19% of the number of locations in the USA.

 

[Sisko - DS9]

I applaud their effort, but I think we are all learning the truth about the ability and requirements in order to provide the super high speed charging we would all like to see. Tesla has been doing things the way they have for a reason. There has been such a segment of the public that have criticized Tesla for their chargers, saying Tesla is out of date and is losing the fast charging "race." Many saying Tesla is falling behind. The truth is Tesla has a very in-depth understanding and scientific insight into batteries, charging and technologicl effects, that they are smart about what they bring out, how and when.

I know we can all be impaitient at times, for sure I have been guilty of wondering why Tesla appears to be dragging their feet; but we can see now there are reasons and maybe Tesla's people already were expecting this to happen. Tesls never bad mouths other companies getting into EV space nor trahses their efforts or intents. But I would offer that maybe Tesla is keenly aware of the hurdles these companies will face.

 

[MarcoRP]

I’ve also noticed that the Petro-Canada chargers weren’t Electrify Can chargers (dumbass me), but powered by BTC POWER. Heard of them before, but don’t know from where.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Je ne parle pas le francais.

Pas de problème, mon ami anglophone. Il n'y a pas de nouvelle informacions.

 

[RiverBrick]

Je ne parle pas le francais.

Their site is bilingual.

Locate a charger | Electrify Canada

The planned locations remind me of the Canadian Supercharger network in mid-2016. However, there's a big difference for travel to and from Quebec : nothing on the Electrify America side linking NYC and Boston to Montreal.

 

[S'toon]

Their site is bilingual.

Locate a charger | Electrify Canada

The planned locations remind me of the Canadian Supercharger network in mid-2016. However, there's a big difference for travel to and from Quebec : nothing on the Electrify America side linking NYC and Boston to Montreal.

Aye, but the images posted were en francais.

 

[MarcoRP]

Aye, but the images posted were en francais.

Nor do some Québécois speak le english

 

[wayner]

There has been such a segment of the public that have criticized Tesla for their chargers, saying Tesla is out of date and is losing the fast charging "race." Many saying Tesla is falling behind. The truth is Tesla has a very in-depth understanding and scientific insight into batteries, charging and technologicl effects, that they are smart about what they bring out, how and when.

Who exactly is in that segment?

 

[MarcoRP]

Who exactly is in that segment?

I would say VW, Jaguar, Chevrolet, and Porsche, who would suggest themselves as the main competitors for Tesla.

 

[wayner]

So those other manufacturers have criticized Tesla's fast chargers when they have pretty much nothing to show for fast charging themselves? Do any of VW, Jag, Chevy or Porsche have any fast chargers in Canada that are as capable as a Tesla SC?

 

[MarcoRP]

You didn’t say in Canada.

 

[wayner]

This is a Canada forum and the title of this thread is Electrify Canada.

 

[Sisko - DS9]

This is a Canada forum and the title of this thread is Electrify Canada.

Can I ask you a question? Are you trying to be antagonizing? We know this is Electrify Canada, but we are talking about in general because charging is an infrastucture that does not only apply to Canada and Electrify America, is the same company that is doing Electrify Canada. They are both VW backed. Their way of doing penance from the "Dieselgate" fiasco. It was mandated in the USA, but apparently voluntary in Canada.

Now these other entities like "Electrify..." and Ionity have been marketing themselves as going to have and be the fastest charging stations out there. That they will be faster than Tesla. Sure advertising is boasting; but remember there was buzz from shorts and other financial people asking "where is Tesla's highspeed network? These other entities are surpassing them, etc. If you doubt that , then take time and read through the "Electrek" website. tjhey have written articles on all these occurrences.

So I said what I did up above in this thread, that there must be a reason why Tesla had not deployed such fast chargers... now we know why. The process can have serious liabilities. Heat appears to be a real difficult parameter to get by. So now the other companies are learning, first-hand. Maybe Tesla knows more than the competition thinks they do.

I'm not sure why it is you cannot contemplate what I was saying and simply making a small point about? why are you being so argumentative. Others are saying their peace. You have an opinion, great we would all like to hear it; but do not get too sassy - with your bolding of the word Canada. By the way, Canada isn't the only place with EVs and thus in the need of fast chargers.

 

[wayner]

I am not trying to be antagonizing. You said "There has been such a segment of the public that have criticized Tesla for their chargers, saying Tesla is out of date and is losing the fast charging "race." "

I have not heard that and to me that is a very vague statement. Who are you referring to when you say "a segment of the public"? That's what I was asking in post #14.

Most views I have heard are more like this "Tesla has a huge competitive advantage as they have deployed a network of fast chargers. All other EV manufacturers are years behind and even where they have fast chargers they are generally not as good as Tesla's EVs."

But I am not interested in arguing stuff like this.