'Disappointing' usage of electric vehicle charging stations in 1st year

A full year after they were installed, Ottawans appear slow to embrace the city's new fleet of public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations — but usage is trending upward.

The City of Ottawa installed a total of 24 EV charging stations across 16 sites spread throughout the city (some sites have two chargers). It currently bills $2 an hour for the service, a price point it says is in line with other cities.

As of last Friday, each of the city-owned charging stations had been in place for at least one year. In that time, a clearer picture of how Ottawans are using the technology has emerged.

In all of 2022  — including six dates where not a single charging session at a city-owned station was recorded  — the chargers were used an average of just under 15 times per day. That number falls well below one use per charging station each day.

The station at Ottawa city hall was used the most, with 908 charging sessions recorded in 2022. On the other end of the spectrum, a charging station located at 1551 Lycée Place, a short side street near The Ottawa Hospital, was used just 65 times last year.

Total daily uses across the entire city ranged from 47 at the peak to just zero at the low end.

Raymond Leury, president of the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa, called last year's usage "disappointing," but added the slow uptake is a "chicken and egg" problem.

"People don't have electric cars because there's not charging available," he said. "So it might take some time after the charging stations have been deployed for them to start getting used a lot."

Usage trending upward

Mitchell House, a product manager with the city's climate change and resiliency unit, said Ottawa has recorded "some pretty good usage to date."

"We've seen a progressive growth in the usage of those stations over time," he said.

House said the city didn't set specific usage targets, instead hoping to use the data to get a sense of which stations were being used most frequently and why.

That information, he said, will allow the city to evaluate where to put future stations, should it choose to.

Lack of at-home charging station an 'obstacle'

Leury said public charging stations are most useful for two demographics: those who don't have a permanent charging location at home, such as people who live in apartments or condos, or those who are visiting the city, such as tourists.

Many people are priced out of purchasing EVs, he added, because they don't have access to their own charging station.

"We don't want that to be an obstacle," he said.

The City of Ottawa has opted for Level II public charging stations, able to replenish somewhere between 30 and 40 kilometres of range for each hour of charging. By contrast, Level III fast charging stations can fill a battery in between 20 and 40 minutes.

House said the city chose Level II stations because their smaller profile is better suited to the mostly residential locations where the current crop of chargers resides.

He said the city is currently "evaluating" the type and amount of any chargers it may install in the future.

Despite the slow uptake, Leury said Ottawa needs "many, many more" fast chargers, but added local government can't solve the shortfall by itself.

"It shouldn't be something the municipal government is driving alone," he said. "Certainly the city has a role to play, but we're hoping to see some private players be much more active in Ottawa."