Good News! Ottawa to get electric buses

Posted on by Kathleen

Posted on  by Kathleen

We have been actively working on convincing the powers-that-be of the advantages of, and the necessity for, cleaning up our public transit system. We did a lot of work under the umbrella “Plug in Canada!“, and are pleased to report that it has paid off…The people have spoken, and our leaders are listening.

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities recently announced funding for 4 new battery-electric buses:

Ottawa to purchase new electric buses

News release

From: Infrastructure Canada

Canadian Federal EV Policy – A Proposal

Posted on by Matthew
The Government of Canada is working on a new Canadian Zero-Emission Vehicle Strategy to be published this year.  We have been wondering if this might answer some of the issues that surround the slow uptake of EVs and PHEVs in Canada.  In this search we found the “Canada’s ZEV Policy Handbook”  This was a really interesting read and but, and this is a a big but, it promotes perhaps the slowest possible transition away from fossil fueled cars to ZEVs.  Based on the idea that we should have an ZEV market share of 30% by 2030 and 40% by 2040, by which time India,  China, much of Europe and several other jurisdictions will be at 100% market share, by virtue of banning fossil fueled vehicles.  Cities across the world are considering banning all fossil fueled vehicles as soon as 2030. We hope this lack of ambition will not be reflected in the new Strategy. Slow progress will ensure that Canada becomes a dumping ground for fossil fuel vehicles as the rest of the world moves into an electrified future.  This will lead to damage to the environment, our pocketbooks and to the auto industry. Canada is in 20th place for ZEV sales, with less the 1% market share.  If we take a look a the electricity grid in the the same group of 20 countries, Canada has the 6th cleanest, with less than 20% of our electricity coming from GHG producing sources.
Data from EV-Volumes.com (1H 2017)
To put it another way, an EV in Canada is a far more effective way of reducing GHG emissions than an EV in most other countries. It is to our shame that we are not pulling on this very large climate change lever as hard as we possibly can. It is worth taking a look at the countries that are doing well.  Norway, Iceland and Sweden share much of our climate and Norway and Sweden also have a similar  population density to Southern Canada. So climate and population density are not valid excuses, so why are we where we are? We think a small part of the reason is that Canada is a very conservative country, change happens slowly and we tend to look south for our cues rather than looking to the leaders in an area for ideas. That said, we think the larger part of this slow progress is due to the simple fact that the fossil fuel and automobile sectors will lose out as we transition from fossil to electric vehicles. In the end state we will have vehicles that cost a lot less than the current fossil-powered ones.  As battery costs fall, the simplicity of EVs will take over and manufacturing costs will be less than those of fossil vehicles in the next couple of years.  Maintenance costs for EVs are much lower than fossil cars due to very few moving parts. Car manufacturers are faced with consumers paying less per vehicle, Dealers will be doing less warranty work, oil companies will be selling far less gas and diesel. Whilst powerful lobbies lose, society wins in this equation: less GHG emissions, less pollution, less particulates and less noise.  Individuals win: lower costs of purchasing, far lower operating costs.  The power companies win: load on the grid is spread and evened out making management easier, sales are higher, opportunities arise to gain a big advantage from vehicle to grid, to allow EVs to supply power during sudden peaks in demand. Politics is about the art of the possible and we are sure that car manufacturers and oil companies are lobbying hard to ensure that Canada is the last country to move away from the status quo. So what might be possible, even in a climate where the government is being told it is too hard a change to make?
Graphic from Pod Point via Fully Charged
This is what is possible for the UK market. Click on the graphic to see a great discussion. We can shift this 2-3 years to the right for a view of what we can do in Canada.

Targets

Given that Norway will be above 50% market share for EVs and PHEVs in 2018 we think it is important that Canada set a strong target. 30% by 2030 is not going to address our Paris commitments and will result in consumer demand being ahead of supply and infrastructure.

Proposal: Target 50% ZEV market share by 2028

PHEV market share would be above and beyond the 50% level. A 50% market share by 2028 will allow Canada to achieve close to 100% electrification by 2050 whilst providing time for infrastructure build out and industry to adapt.

Supply

Currently it is not possible to go to a car dealer, test drive an EV and then pick up a new EV a few days later.  Waiting lists for EVs are long, 6-12 months depending on the manufacturer.  Current Provincial measures have been enough to generate far more sales than the car companies are willing to deal with.  Supply management is key to ensuring the availability of EVs from all companies across all vehicle types. Today there are EVs and PHEVs in most categories, but few choices within a category, providing almost no choice for consumers. Quebec has introduced a ZEV mandate to try to ensure that supply will be available for the future.  Quebec has joined Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont in adopting California’s Air Resource Board (CARB) ZEV Mandate.  The CARB mandate is a points system, you get a maximum of 1.3 points for a PHEV and a maximum of 4 points for a pure EV depending on range.  For example a Chevy Volt PHEV gets 0.83 points while our e-Golf would get 1.75 points.  The CARB requirements are not very ambitious, aiming for about 8% market share in 2020.  To meet the 50% goal by 2028 it might be necessary to go beyond CARB’s requirement in 2025 and beyond by reducing the points for PHEVs and increasing the points requirement to get closer to the change required to meet 50% market share.

Proposal:  Adopt CARB ZEV Mandate with enhanced measures from 2025

Additional measures may be required, but these should be considered in concert with provincial programs.

Demand

Quebec, Ontario and BC have direct subsidies that have been effective in creating demand but, at least in Ontario created a lot of work and delays in processing individual claims.  Any measures aimed at large scale adoption of EVs have to be simpler to implement. Ontario has proposed removing the provincial portion of HST on all EVs. This mirrors the key measure used so successfully in Norway.  With HST at 13% in Ontario compared with 25% in Norway, this lever is not very long, especially if it is limited to the provincial portion.  Removing the federal GST portion of 5%, nationwide, would send a strong signal to consumers.  This would remove about $2000 from the cost of the average car. If we are aiming for 50% market share this would create a serious hole in the budget, so we propose increasing the GST portion as the market share rises. GST should increase by 1% each time EVs achieve another 10% market share  By the time the 50% target is reached, GST would be restored to the normal level and would hold at that level.  PHEVs would not be eligible for the GST reduction. An important principle for climate change is polluter pays.  This is a hard sell for politicians but there is a case to be made for increasing taxes on fossil powered vehicles.  We propose that GST on new and used fossil powered vehicles be increased by 0.25% per year until the rate reaches 8%.  Each increase will add about $90 t0 the cost of an average car.  Combined with the GST relief on pure EVs, this would generate about a $1B per year over time.  This revenue should be used to pay for transitional costs such as charging infrastructure, electric buses and garbage trucks etc.  PHEVs would maintain the 5% rate.

Proposal:  Reduce GST to 0% on pure EVs, reinstating the 5% rate in stages as market share increases.  Increase the GST on fossil powered vehicles by 0.25% per year until the rate reaches 8%.  Plug-in Hybid EVs should continue to be taxed at 5%.

Canada’s gas and diesel is far cheaper that the G7 average (73% of the average in 2012)  Federal excise tax on gas has been 10c/l since 1995 and 4c/l on diesel since 1987.  Businesses do not pay GST, it is always passed on to the consumer.  Excise tax is paid by all, not just individuals. Increasing excise tax on fuels sends a clear signal to the larger GHG emitters.  The excise tax should be raised gradually to give businesses time to move away from fossil fuel.  Again this increase in tax should be used to fund electrification.

Proposal: Increase excise tax on gas by 1c/l per year, increase excise tax on diesel by 2c/l per year.  This increase should not stop until all 2050 climate change goals are achieved.

Auto Industry Support

Canada spends a lot of money supporting the auto industry.  Canada’s auto industry is critical to the economy of Canada and Ontario.  Local production and export of vehicles comes close to balancing imports.  Canada and Ontario subsidise key projects for all 5 manufacturers.  In 2017 Ontario and Canada each invested $100M in an engine plant for Ford  This was an investment in the past, and moving forward we need to be clear that we will only provide support for the future.  In 2017 over $600M was promised to support the auto industry and not a penny went to moving the industry away from fossil fuels.  Under the proposals here, Canada’s electrification rate will lead the US, providing opportunities for Canadian factories to benefit as the US catches up.

Proposal:  Any federal auto subsidies should be to support the move away from fossil fuels.

Messaging

Consumers lack information about the advantages of EVs and the real costs of owning a fossil fuel vehicle.  To reach the 50% goal, consumers need to be informed and educated.   We can start by forcing manufacturers to compare the emissions and costs of running a fossil powered vehicle with an EV and PHEV in the same class.  This should be on the window sticker and in the brochures. This would provide a direct message to the consumer that a fossil powered vehicle is going to cost $2000 more per year to run and emit 4-5 tonnes of GHG per year.
The current EnerGuide Label for Canada, how different would this be if EVs were included on the scale.
When politicians talk about climate change the language used is often weak and shows a lack of real leadership.  We need to lead the public with clear messaging.  We need to look at driving a fossil powered vehicle in the future much as we do smoking in public. There will be a time when driving a fossil car will be socially unacceptable. Over time, governments moved from supporting tobacco companies to telling the public that they should consider giving up smoking.  This moved to clearer “Smoking Kills” messages and eventually to government suing tobacco companies for the health costs of smoking.  Today, people still smoke, but how many in a particular country depends largely on  government action. The transition from fossil fueled vehicles to EVs will mirror this process, this will require that politicians be both honest and knowledgeable about climate change and the impact of not doing a lot more than we are planning today. We hope that Ministers Garneau, McKenna and Prime Minister Trudeau understand that we have to move forward with a concerted effort to educate, advise and support consumers in making the right choices.

Action

If you have found this post interesting, can you support this plan by emailing  your MP and Minister Garneau, our minister of Transport? Click here for a starting point for your email,  you can find your MP’s email address here. The email includes a BCC to our address so we can see your response. Add your MP to the CC and write your own thought on the subject.  Our experience is that Minister Garneau’s staff read the emails and respond, you can make a real difference to the conversation.
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The City of Kingston – Doing Electrification Right

Posted on by Matthew

In October the City of Kingston approved a new Kingston Electric Vehicle Strategy.  This document lays out a series of actions Kingston will take to reduce the council’s own transportation related green house gas (GHG) emissions and how they will help citizens and visitors do the same.

We have an interest how Kingston does this besides as a good example for the City of Ottawa to follow. We lived in Kingston for several months in 2015 and 2016 preparing for our trip south on Kinship and we have a son studying at Queens so we visit several times a year.

The strategy addresses three “Target Areas”, let’s take a look:

Target Area 1 – Electrification of Municipal Fleet

Kingston is going to start with their fleet of cars and light commercial vehicles.  This a natural outcome of the current pricing and incentives available.  As older vehicles in this class come up for replacement, they will be replaced with EVs and Level 2 chargers will be installed. Later transit buses and other vehicle will come into play as options become available.  The City of Kingston is a member of the Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC)  A consortium exploring options for electric buses in Canada, starting with a pilot project in York Region I suspect that Kingston will find that buses are available today that can meet their requirements.

Target Area 2 – Support Community Adoption and Use of EVs

Kingston has only a handful of charging stations today, although it is worth pointing out that on a per-capita basis they have more stations than Ottawa. Kingston is going to install 2 DC Fast Chargers and 25 dual level 2 AC chargers across the city.  This network will allow visitors and locals to charge in many handy locations.   There is a certain amount of “build it and then they will come” here, but the plan is sound and it will draw EVs to downtown which is under served today.  As visitors this is great for us, we have to charge in the West end today, well away from Queens, downtown and where our son lives.  Charging will be free at the Level 2 stations, the DC stations will be in the $10-15 range.

Kingston is also working on preparing the grid and having EV charging as an integral part of new builds for the City.

Target Area 3 – Support Municipal Employees Use of EVs

This target area is weaker than the other area, the City is planning on installing chargers for employees if there is demand.  For many Cities this is an area with real impact, hopefully Kingston will follow through on this.

Budget

Kingston’s initial capital investment in these programs is $796,000, representing 0.15% of the total 2018 budget.  If Ottawa was to allocate the same percentage we would be looking about $5,000,000.  Kingston is to be congratulated on their commitment, I will look to 2019 to see how their bus fleet electrification progresses.  Kingston spend about $82,000 per year supporting the operation of the chargers with cost reductions from fees reducing this over time.

As a Model for Other Municipalities

Using Kingston as a model is certainly valid for small-medium municipalities in Ontario.  The current provincial programs support the switch and similar sized cities could implement this strategy successfully.  Larger Cities can take much from the strategy, but it would need to be adapted to the larger organisation sizes involved.

Kingston is evidence that leadership and a relatively small budget commitment can go a long way to starting the process of reducing the GHG impact in a way that saves money.

 

Winter Driving in an e-Golf

Posted on by Matthew

We are in the midst of a cold snap here in Ottawa, colder than Mars according to the headlines.  The temperatures over the last week or two have been consistently very cold, with a few days not making it much above -20C.  We have had some snow and the roads have been challenging at times.  Electric Alice has behaved well, and here are some of our thoughts and observations.  We have only used the car in town at these temperatures so far, a longer trip will have to wait for another post.

Driving

We have installed good winter tyres, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s, They are great tyres and perform well in all the conditions we have had so far. The R2 is designed for low rolling resistance and scores very highly in tyre tests.  We have found that the R2s are noisier than the summer tyres, but overall the noise level is not much worse.

On slippery roads, the traction control works really well, no torque-steer at all with really only the light on the dash to tell you what is happening.  EVs generally have good traction control as the motor is far more responsive than a gas engine. Under hard braking, the ABS works well, just like any other VW.

Regenerative braking seems to work differently if the battery is cold.  In warmer weather, we see about 50kW of regen in B mode and 100kW under braking.  With low temps, the regen seems to be much reduced, perhaps less than half of normal operation.  This is similar to driving with the battery close to 100%.  I suspect that the battery is being protected from some high current events.

Creature Comforts

Volkswagen have clearly put a lot of effort into making the e-Golf comfortable in the winter.  The heater is very powerful, keeping the cabin warm in temps well below -20C.  There is a combination of heat pump and resistive heating, with a total power draw of about 6-7kW.  When the car is cold and you turn on the heated seats, heat front and rear windscreens, the power draw sits at about 7.8kW, a huge draw. Once the cabin is warm, this seems to cycle between 4.4 and 6 kW at -20C.

On the cold days I have been using the preheating function to take the edge off, it is nice to reach the car across the large and windy parking lot at work and settle into a warm car.  It is a shame you can’t turn the seat heaters on with the timer, but they come on in a few seconds.

Range Impact

All this warmth has a big impact on range guess-o-meter (GoM) and the real range. We keep our car in our garage that sits at a few degrees above zero if it is -20C outside.  We see about 110 km on the GoM before we turn the car on, about 130 km when the car is on.

Just turned on in the garage

Driving around town is about the worst thing you can do for range in the winter, the draw of the heating systems does not drop as you sit in traffic, getting out of the car to run an errand lets the cabin cool down and you have to put a bunch of heat back in.  On Saturday we did about 75km in -22C temps with about 6 stops over the day, we got home with about 25km range, so 100km is a realistic range in these conditions. This was the only time I have experienced a touch of range anxiety in town, but when I thought it through, I know where the DC fast chargers are and we were never more than a few km from one so if we had gotten close to running out of electrons, I could have picked some up easily.

We use about 30kWh/100km at -20C, compared with about 16 kWh/100km in warmer weather. A lot of this is the heating but there is also some loss of range due to increases in rolling resistance due to road conditions and hysteresis of the cold tyres. Air resistance is higher in cold temperatures too.  Fossil cars are also much less efficient in cold weather, perhaps 30% or so.

The reduction of range really brings into focus the benefits of workplace charging.  If you have a longer commute, plugging in at work, with the option to preheat your car without using the battery is a big help.  Thankfully, the e-Golf does not have to be plugged-in to use the preheat function.

When we bought Alice, we did so on the assumption that we would rent a car for all long trips.  In warmer weather we have not found that necessary, but I think we would have to think hard about a long trip in the depth of winter.  On the other hand, in town, even in a cold snap we have a car that is warm, comfortable, easy and safe to drive on difficult roads and I have not had to stand in -20C for 5 minutes to fuel up.

 

Christmas Holiday in Europe

Posted on by Matthew

We spent the last couple of weeks visiting Germany and the UK to see friends and family.  Though this was not an EV related trip we did see some things of note.

In Germany we saw an e-Golf in a dealer showroom. We drove by on a Sunday so we could not check to see if it was sold or not, but it might point to better availability in Germany than we have here in Canada.  We saw a few EVs on the road, Teslas mainly.

We headed to the UK for Christmas with family.  We picked up my sister from Liverpool airport and on the way to my parent’s place we stopped at Burtonwood Motorway Services on the M62 between Liverpool and Manchester.  As with most services in the UK, Ecotricity has installed a pair of L3 chargers supporting CHAdeMO and CCS, with a side of Type 2 AC.  The standards as Renault has high power Type 2 charging on the Zoe, rather than the CHAdeMO of the Leaf, despite Renault owning a controlling interest in Nissan.  There is great video on how the Ecotricity chargers work here.  There is a new 8 bay Supercharger on the other side of the car park that is about to be commissioned.  Installing charging at service areas is an obvious and needed addition, sadly, despite all the service areas in Ontario being owned by the province, there has been no progress on this here.

The UK has fines for ICEing, which is great.  Quebec now has similar rules.

We saw our first electric bus in Manchester. Manchester has a free shuttle bus service in the city centre with at least 3 pure electric buses joining a fleet of diesel-electric hybrids in 2014.

Electric buses make so much sense, Shenzhen has a 16,000 strong fleet of electric buses, more cities should move away from diesel.

In addition to free electric shuttles, Manchester also benefits from the Brompton hire system.  For £3.50 a day you can rent a Brompton, which is a great deal. This dock is at Manchester Piccadilly rail station.  The Bromptons act as the last mile solution.

Seeing integrated transportation options like this in the UK, which has a far more complicated model with many private companies and funding agency shows how far behind we are in Ontario with a much simpler political landscape.

We rounded out our trip to Manchester to two monuments to Vimto, ruiner of many carpets and to Alan Turing, founding father of Computer Science.

Modelling Electric Vehicle Public Charging Costs

Posted on by Rightwheel

Over the last few months we have been investigating the costs of charging EVs in Ontario and surrounding areas.  One thing that became very apparent is that some charging companies do not look a the real cost of charging when they set their rates.  We have developed a spreadsheet to model the costs of charging based on the price plan and the type of charger for a number of EVs.  You can read about our view on our EV Blog

Here you can see examples of level 2 charging, with three different styles of plans, time, flat fee and kWh.  This allows consumers and charging company to look at the cost and value at a charger and a comparison with gas costs.

Level 3 charging is even more critical, decisions made by charging companies can make long distance travel by EV more expensive than traveling by a fossil car.

You can download the spreadsheet here: EV charging cost model (metric)v1.1 Please contact us if you want us to add features to the spreadsheet.

A Response from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to our EV Program Review

Posted on by Matthew

I received the letter below from Jamie Austin, the Director of the Transportation Policy Branch MTO. The original letter is here, I have made the text available below and I have added links to the programs Mr Austin discusses.  I am very grateful to Mr Austin for taking the time to respond and I think he is offering some insights into how the Province will address the issues we see with the EV programs.  As a community we still have a lot of work to do to address some of the policy gaps.

Our review is here, I suggest you read it first if you have not seen it before.

 

 

Dear Mr. Eglin,

Thank you for your email to the Honourable Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation dated October 5, 2017 and your emails regarding your review of Ontario electric vehicle programs. I appreciate your interest and enthusiasm for electric vehicles, and assure you that we share your ambitions for the electrification of transportation in Ontario. As a follow up to our brief discussion on these matters at the ITS World Congress in Montreal, I am happy to respond to you in greater detail on behalf of the Ministry of Transportation.

Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (EVIP) and Electric Vehicle Charging Incentive  Program (EVCIP)

I appreciate your positive feedback of EVIP and EVCIP, and acknowledge that there have been unfortunate delays in processing applications for these programs. While I am happy to report that demand for these programs has significantly increased over the last year, this led to a backlog in processing applications and making payments to program recipients. The Ministry of Transportation has recently committed new resources to the management of these programs in order to address both the current backlog and ongoing increased demand, and I’m pleased to say that this issue should be mitigated in the near future.

Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario (EVCO)

EVCO was an application-based program that received an overwhelming response of over 200 applications. Applicants identified what they felt were good locations for the deployment of EV chargers. Because program recipients are responsible for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the chargers it is important that they themselves choose the locations, giving due consideration to the business plans under which they operate. Through the evaluation process, cost efficiency, appropriateness of the site and the number of stations per site were carefully considered, with a focus on the greatest possible connectivity of the network from among the eligible applications received.

As you have noted, there are a number of chargers that are planned under the EVCO program that are not presently listed on our website/program map. For a number of reasons, such as site conditions or host business decisions, some sites originally planned under the EVCO program have been determined to be unsuitable. In these cases wherever possible, EVCO program recipients have been proposing replacement sites to the government for consideration. These sites are added in to the EVCO map as they are approved for inclusion in the program. Where alternative locations cannot be found, projects will be modified to a smaller number of chargers/locations and the government will recover a portion of the funding that was allocated. The program is currently tracking towards the installation of nearly 300 level 2 chargers and over 200 level 3 chargers at approximately 250 locations across the province, and is currently two-thirds complete.

I note you have also observed some customer service issues with EVCO recipients. We do expect that EVCO recipients, and particularly operators of level 3 chargers, operate a 24/7 toll-free customer assistance number so that drivers can report outages and malfunctions, obtain assistance with point-of-sale and customer authentication, or to request assistance operating the charger. We are working with EVCO recipients to ensure they are meeting these expectations and we believe the issues that you have observed will improve over time.

Moving forward, we will be working to implement actions in the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), such as the rapid deployment of charging in government facilities, workplaces, multi-unit residential buildings, downtowns and town centres. CCAP includes up to $80 million over four years, for the continued deployment of EV charging infrastructure. We will be launching the first programming with these additional funds in the near future. As part of our program planning, we are monitoring the use of EVCO charging stations to better understand remaining service gaps. As we move towards our future plans, we will be sure to keep your suggestions in mind and welcome any additional suggestions that you may have.

I should also acknowledge the investments that the federal government is making in charging in Ontario, including projects under the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative (EVAFIDI) and the Energy Innovation Program (EIP). We are also working closely with Natural Resources Canada to identify other opportunities for investment in Ontario.

Reduced Output Fast Chargers

Your observation about some level 3 chargers having reduced output in your review and your email addressed to Minister Del Duca is correct, as is your assessment about the root cause – that 50 kW is the threshold after which higher demand fees are incurred. This is in part associated with local distribution company (LDC) policies across the province, many of which will not permit secondary electrical services to a property for safety considerations. Accordingly, some EVCO recipients have reduced the total output of fast chargers to between 30 and 40 kW. Under a program like EVCO, the only alternative would be significantly fewer chargers or to have level 2 chargers installed. We understand your concerns about this matter and are currently determining the best approach to ensure that this information is communicated to the public transparently.

Cost of Charging

Recognizing that EVCO program recipients are responsible for all operating and maintenance costs of the chargers installed as part of their projects, the province did not specify the rate that would be charged by public charging stations. Fees are set by the owner/operator of the charger, and you will find a variety of fees across the province ranging from free to $17/hour, depending on the charging speed and other factors (i.e. parking included, etc.). We are monitoring the pricing for EV charging in Ontario at both EVCO and non EVCO chargers and reserve the right to intervene where the province determines fees at EVCO chargers are unreasonable.

With regard to kWh pricing for EV charging, there are additional regulatory considerations which fall under the authority of Measurement Canada, specifically under the Weights and Measures Act. The province of Ontario has had an open dialogue with the federal government on this through work related to the upcoming national Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Strategy, and we are monitoring the federal government for any regulatory changes or developments. Chargers installed as part of the EVCO program were required to have the capability to charge by kWh, so if and when these federal rules are changed EVCO recipients will have the flexibility to use kWh pricing if they choose.

EV Supply Management

Ontario has not opted to proceed with establishing a ZEV mandate, such as the approach taken in Quebec, as Ontario believes that a collaborative approach with a province-wide sales target that represents a collective goal will be the most effective approach. Through the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Advancement Partnership (EHVAP), the province is working closely with automakers, unions and other interested stakeholders to ensure that there is an adequate supply of EVs available in Ontario to meet demand over the next few years. We are also monitoring EV policies from other jurisdictions, including Quebec, with a particular interest on any potential impacts in Ontario.

In closing, I would like to thank you again for your feedback on Ontario’s electric vehicle programs. We are continually looking for opportunities to improve and adapt our programming to meet a fast evolving sector. I believe that we share the same enthusiasm for electric vehicles and optimism for the potential they offer to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and lower transportation costs for all Ontarians. Thank you for your commitment to the electrification of transportation in Ontario.

Sincerely,

Jamie Austin Director

  1. Darryl Soshycki, Manager, Sustainable and Innovative Transportation Office, Ministry of Transportation

The Cost of EV Public Charging – The Untold Story

Posted on by Kathleen

What if I told you that from now on, in order to fill up your gas tank you had to pay $5 to put the nozzle in, and then pay per minute to get some random flow of gas. You have no control over how fast or slowly the gas comes out of the nozzle, but when your time is up, if your tank is not full yet, you will have to put in another $5 to get more minutes of flow, and repeat until full. Sounds crazy, right?! Well, this is exactly what we have at the worst of the EV chargers. Over the summer we carefully logged our travels in our new e-Golf, and discovered that road-tripping costs at least as much in an EV as it does in a fossil. In fact, gas costs could actually be cheaper, depending on the chargers you use, and the time savings per fill-up are substantial.

How can that be true, you ask? Everyone knows it only costs a few dollars to plug into a public charger, where it costs $40 or $50 whenever you go to the gas pumps. Well, if you are like me, and amps and kilowatts are a foreign language, it’s easy to be fooled into a false sense of economy.

There is no standardization in the current charging infrastructure, so sometimes you can charge your car for free, sometimes you are quoted an hourly rate, sometimes a fixed fee, and sometimes a combination, such as a connection fee and a per minute rate. Is that confusing enough? It gets worse, because even if you could do the math to compare those rates, the big unknown is how much power the individual charger will put out (this is the technical part about amps – refer to Matthew’s recent post “Ontario’s EV Program, a User’s Review” if you want a full explanation of that).

For our e-Golf’s efficiency rating of 17.4KWh/100kms, it takes over an hour, and costs more than double the price of gas to get enough KWh’s to drive 100kms! But I needed an app to do that calculation. If only charging was sold by the kWh – then all I would need to do is replace litres with kWh’s in the typical fuel efficiency equation of  “L/100kms” to make my comparison.

Time and Cost to add 100km range at a typical KSI DC Fast Charger

We did a calculation comparing the different charging networks encountered on our trips, and this is what we found when we compared apples to apples. Putting everything into the same units, the cost to travel 100 kilometres, and comparing that to the cost of the gas required to cover the same distance in an ICE vehicle, the costs are all over the place from free right up to “Ouch”.  Because of the wild west nature of EV charging, without careful planning and some inside knowledge  EV charging can cost way more per kilometre than gas!  And to add insult to injury, it takes a lot more time to fill up at a charger than at a gas pump.

To be clear, if you mainly charge at home, the amount added to your electricity bill is definitely way less than the cost of gas. And if you only take a few road trips a year, this is probably not really going to worry you that much. But for anyone who does not have access to a home charger, such as out-of-town travellers, and local condo and apartment dwellers, who must rely on public chargers, the economics of charging an EV are way out of line.

The Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario (EVCO) program that is providing funds for Level 3 chargers across the province, failed to provide clear specifications for the output, so many of these are way more expensive than gas. The City of Ottawa’s proposed EV Charger Policy risks falling into the same category if it follows the same path. This is counter-productive to all their other programs aimed at promoting EV’s as a more environmentally sustainable mode of transportation. Never mind range anxiety, who would buy an EV if they knew that charging it while on the road might cost two or three times as much as gas, and add two or three hours to the trip?

It’s easy to see how consumers could misunderstand the cost of public charging, and I am afraid that the policy makers are no more clear on the concept than the rest of us. They need to identify their target markets, and provide reasonably priced charging options for each market segment in order to make EV ownership viable for all. The way things stand, city dwellers who do not have access to their own home charger, and tourists or long-distance travellers, both face a serious disincentive to EV ownership. And that is the untold story of EV public charging in Ontario. Who knew?

Something missing from all EV chargers

 

 

EVs are Traffic Too

Posted on by Matthew

In the before time, when we still had a fossil car we had a rule, we did not take the car out for one errand. One errand was a walk or a cycle to the closest store, not perhaps the cheapest but we saved on gas to make up the difference. We tried hard to make sure we had at least three errands to do in the same end of town before we pushed another dinosaur out into the atmosphere. When we reached enlightenment with Electric Alice that rule went out the window. With no pollution, low costs and even lower guilt, we were freed to drive whenever we felt like it.

In the last couple of weeks and after driving 12,000 km since July, it has become clear to me that this freedom comes at a cost – traffic. Arriving late somewhere we, like most people say we were stuck in traffic, but this a lie, the honest way to phrase this is “we were traffic and traffic was slow”. EVs are great in traffic, quiet, easy to drive and with one foot driving being in traffic is far less taxing than a fossil car.

But we are traffic too, we might not pollute but we can contribute to congestion and by the same measure contribute to pollution indirectly.

With an EV, the personal cost of being in congestion is reduced.  An EV is easier in traffic, and more relaxed generally, so it is more tolerable to sit in a traffic jam. The personal cost gets less as the cars get smarter. Tesla, Nissan and VW all sell EVs that will just follow the car in front in a jam, taking over much of the driving task. If we take this to the extreme with autonomous cars (should this turn out to be possible, more on this point in a later post)  the personal cost of traffic congestion is almost completely removed. You could work, sleep, play just as you might on a train.  You have to wonder if autonomous cars are going to need a washroom and a club car to be really successful.  There is a real chance that the move to more automated EVs will mean more traffic. A lot of the rest of traffic will still be burning dinos, reducing the benefit of electrification through congestion.

Fleets of shared self-driving cars, such as Waymo and Uber are proposing would be catastrophic for traffic if they succeed as a large scale replacement for personal cars.  Each trip with passengers will require an extra trip for pick up.  50% of traffic from these services will be empty.  As a replacement or supplement to transit, the issue of traffic is even worse.

Widespread electrification could impact cities with congestion charges like London. With the current system, EVs are not charged to enter central London, but if significant percentage of all vehicles are electric there is quite the potential for gridlock. Policies will have to be adjusted to ensure traffic can flow and that the streets are not totally given up to cars and trucks, no matter how green they are.  Oslo, perhaps the most electrified city in the world will start to charge EVs to enter the city centre as of January.  The charge is small (€ 1.1 vs € 4.7 for a petrol car) but will rise again in 2020.

So, my plan is to try to go back to the three errand rule, at least when there is a lot of traffic. Walking and cycling are still better for the world, even if you drive an EV.

Ontario’s Electric Vehicle Programs – A User Review

Posted on by Matthew

The Government of Ontario has a broad set of policies and programs aimed at promoting electrification in the province.  As a user of many of these programs I think a personal review might be of benefit to other users and the managers of the programs.

 

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/vehicles/electric/index.shtml

Program Reviews

Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (EVIP)             B

The EVIP is designed to subsidise the purchase of EVs, based on factors such as battery capacity and number of seats, the EVIP delivers an incentive  of between $3000 and $14,000 depending on model.  We qualified for the full $14,000 and this was processed by the dealer when we bought the car.  The incentive brought the price of our car into a similar price range as a fossil car of the same make.  By removing the premium for EVs, it allowed us to consider an EV when we would likely not have been able to afford one without the EVIP.

As a way of seeding the market and ensuring demand this program has been very successful.  It has created long waiting lists for EVs in Ontario and has to be regarded as successful.  This has highlighted a lack of effective supply side policy, but I will come back to this later.

My personal take on the incentive is I have been paid $14,000 to be an ambassador, I am happy to help promote EVs and share my experiences.  But even if other beneficiaries of the program don’t share this view, just by being present on the road shows that EVs are now a normal choice of regular people.   

The only thing standing between EVIP and an A are the delayed payments.  The province did not have enough staff to process the payments quickly and there is a large backlog.  Most dealers will not process the incentive on behalf of their customers due to long delays in getting paid. This means that the customer has to pay the $14,000 out of pocket and wait months for the cheque from the province, this reduces the affordability of EVs.  I understand that more staff have been hired to process payments.  Hopefully this will improve quickly.

 

Electric Vehicle Charging Incentive Program        B+

This is a small program that provides a 50% incentive for both a home charger and the installation of the charger, up to $500 for each.  This program is small in value compared to the EVIP but it has some great features that will help grow the EV market.  Firstly the incentive is only available for chargers bought in Canada from a Canadian source.  Without the incentive I would have saved some money and imported a charger from the US.  With the incentive, I used a dealer in Ontario.  The Canadian distributors and manufacturers are helped to grow and this will ensure that EV chargers are sold and supported in Canada.  This is great choice by the province and means that you can go to Home Depot and pick up a charger just like any other appliance.  The program also requires an electrical inspection ensuring that the charger is safely installed.  

Once again, the only thing reducing my mark is the slow processing of payments, I have yet to receive my payment after 3 months.

Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario (EVCO)                         D-

The EVCO grant program was intended to fund a large role out of Level 2 and Level 3 chargers with a completion date of March 2017.  Funding of $19,845,122 is intended to deliver 274 Level 2 chargers and 211 Level 3 chargers.  Level 2 chargers are slower chargers and are suitable for sites where users will spend 2-5 hours such as hotels, parking etc, Level 3 chargers are faster and suited to places where the stay is 40 minutes or less and along a travel corridor.

Without the EVCO program, long distance travel by EV (other than Tesla) would not be possible at all.  The program has problems but these have to examined remembering that there were next to no level 3 chargers on the highways of Ontario before this program.

Missing Chargers

At seven months after the target date of the promised over a third of the chargers have not been delivered.  Of the 274 promised Level 2 chargers, 50 are “coming soon”, with no plans for the final 42 and of the 211 Level 3 stations, 24 are “coming soon”, with the final 53 not planned .

I think this delay is understandable and forgivable, it is hard to plan a large project like at well over 200 sites, some delay is inevitable.  Perhaps less understandable is that 42 Level 2 and 53 Level 3 chargers are not accounted for.  It is unclear from the data available if these chargers are in process somewhere or if these are not going to happen.

Lack of Network Design

The design of the public network of level 3 chargers has favoured urban and suburban locations rather than the highway locations needed to enable long distance travel. There are significant gaps east and west of the GTA that are not yet filled.  There are currently no plans for fast chargers at any of the 400 series highway service centres.  

Low Power “Fast” Chargers

However, there are some more critical issues with the program.  A large number of the Level 3 chargers that are intended to charge at 50 kW are restricted to much lower power.  Koben Systems Inc (KSI) won over half of the available funding under the EVCO program with a promise of 152 level 2 chargers and 126 level 3.  Many of KSI’s level 3 chargers are limited to 50 amps, outputting about 20 kW.

The time taken to make a trip longer than the range of an EV is highly dependant on the time it takes to charge.  Using a charger rated at 50 kW, an EV will extend its range at about 250-280 kph.   A charger limited to 20 kW will give about 110-130 kph. Driving 500 km beyond the range of an EV will take about 2 hours longer using restricted chargers compared with chargers operating at full power.

The chargers that are limited share their power feed with the host site and this causes a problem with Ontario’s demand pricing for electricity.  Exceeding 50kW even once changes the class of an electrical service, increasing the overall cost of power significantly.

It appears that the vast majority of KSI stations are limited to 20 kW (50 amps) and as they are due to deliver 126 of the 211 the negative impact on the public charging network is extensive.

With so many of the chargers in the public network unable to deliver a truly fast charge, the prospects for long distance EV travel in Ontario are not good.    

KSI also has severe support issues.  Unlike any of the other charger network, the support line is not answered by someone able to do anything with the chargers.  They promise that “support will call back” but it is unclear if they ever do.

The Province failed to provide clear specifications for the level 3 chargers and support processes and as a result we are left with a mess, fast chargers that are slow and non-existent support for the majority of the charging stations.

Cost of Charging

Currently, EV charging stations charge either based on time or a connection fee plus time.  This model incentivises lowering the power of a fast charger to increase the time connected and the fees paid for a charge.  

In my view, the fairest way to charge for level 3 charging is a small, fixed connection charge and then a per kWh rate that is published. EV charging stations need to be regulated in exactly the same way gas pumps are, from a consumer’s point of view there is no difference.

For KSI Level 3 chargers the combination of reduced power, their fee structure can push the cost of a charge to double the cost of gas for the same journey.

KSI fees at a power restricted Level 3 Charger

Charge Time Charge Cost 1 Range Added Equivalent

Gas Cost 2
20 minutes $          8.95 44 km $      3.47
30 minutes $        10.95 67 km $      5.20
40 minutes $        12.95 89 km $      6.93
50 minutes $        14.95 111 km $      8.67
60 minutes $        16.95 133 km $   10.40

1 Charging cost based on KSI rates ($4.95 connection fee and $0.20 per minute) on a charger limited to 50 amps.

2 Gas cost based on $1.20 per litre and consumption of 6.5 l/100km.

Families with a conventional car in addition to an EV are far less likely to undertake long journeys in their EV if it costs them more and takes them a lot longer due to KSI’s chargers.

The EVCO charging network requires regulation and policy changes to move EV long distance travel from possible to the best alternative.

Quebec’s network of Level 3 chargers consistently delivers fast charging at a much lower price.  A 30 minute charge will deliver 133 km and cost $6 on an Electric Circuit station, 64% cheaper and 100% faster than KSI delivers in Ontario.

EV Supply Management                                         F

At this time, the Province is not attempting to manage the supply of EVs in Ontario.  There a provision in the Electric Vehicle Incentive Program that each manufacturer must demonstrate a path to raise EV sales to 5% by 2020. However the only sanction is the loss of access to the EVIP, which, if you don’t plan to sell cars, is no sanction at all.

Today, EVs from Nissan, GM, Hyundai and Volkswagen are sold out until the middle of 2018, Tesla’s Model 3 first Canadian deliveries are not expected until late 2018. Finding a lower cost EV in Ontario is just about impossible.  In 2018 I expect this to get much worse as Quebec has introduced a quota system for EVs that starts in 2018 at 3.5% of all car sales, rising to 15.5% by 2025.  This quota has already removed the 2018 Ford Focus Electric from sale in the rest of Canada and it seems likely that Ontario will lose access to other models as the impact of Quebec’s quota system is felt.

As Quebec pushes forward there is a high likelihood that the shortage of EVs in Ontario will continue for many years, handicapping the Province’s EV programs.  There is little point in stimulating demand, as Ontario has done so successfully if there are no cars to buy.

Federal Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau has not indicated any desire to move forward with a national EV quota system, it is left to the Provinces to address this as Quebec already has.

 Overall Assessment                       D+

A Promising Start, Follow Through Lacking

The current programs have changed the landscape for the EV in Ontario.  By making EV ownership easier and long distance EV travel possible, the Province is to be congratulated.  

The lack of supply side policy has undermined these successes and in 2018 I expect to see the slow growth of EV sales to continue or perhaps fall back depending on how Nissan and Tesla address the Quebec market.

Urgent action is required to address the issues with EVCO and quotas if growth in EVs is to continue.