Montreal to get 106 electric car charging stations by next spring

Montreal and the province of Quebec have unveiled plans to install 106 charging stations for electric cars around the city by next spring. 

Mayor Denis Coderre says Montreal will be a leader among Canadian cities.

He said having curbside stations downtown will make Montreal stand out. Some cities do have curbside stations, but in many cases drivers have to access them in parking lots or underground garages.

• Quebec unveils plan to expand electric-car network
• Electric cars could boost CO2 emissions in some provinces

Both the province and the city will be responsible for installing 53 stations each between the end of November and next spring. 

Most of the stations will be in downtown Montreal, located on sidewalks next to parking spots.

Coderre said Sunday he hopes to have a total 1,000 charging stations by 2020.

"It's a matter of thinking globally and acting locally," he told a news conference.

Two types of charging stations will be installed on the Island of Montreal.

• There will be 50 charging stations for 240 volts, each with two plugs. These will be along the street and will cost $1 per hour for charging (plus parking costs if there are any).
• There will also be six 400 volt fast-charging stations. These will cost $10 per hour to charge, although about 10 minutes of charging works out to enough to travel 50 kilometres.

Montreal had two charging stations in downtown for past year as part of a pilot project. Coderre said they were used an average of 60 to 75 times per month.

The 106 new charging stations are in addition to another 80 stations around the Island of Montreal. Those 80 stations, scheduled to be installed by the end of 2016, are not street side but are located in places like parking lots.

Quebec's five-year plan

Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poeti, who was also at the news conference, hailed Coderre for his leadership in greening the city. 

He said Quebec is a leader in Canada for electric vehicles, with more than half of electric cars in the country on the province's roads.

Sunday's announcement comes after the Quebec government gave details earlier this month for how it plans to spend $420 million over the next five years on its plan to promote electric vehicles.

The Liberal government's program is called "Propulser le Québec par l'électricité" — or, Driving Quebec with Electricity — and aims to promote electric transportation and the industry supporting it.

The government expects more than 100,000 electric and hybrid gas-electric cars to hit the roads in the next five years.