A company’s proposal to bring electronic charging stations to Highway 63 left councillors unconvinced after they heard it hadn’t been tested further north than Michigan.
During their June 27 meeting, councillors listened to a presentation from BoltCharge, a Canadian electronic vehicle (EV) charging company that has partnered with a California-based battery manufacturer to create roadside charging stations.
“We formed the company out of a desire to ensure communities that have no access or limited access to the EV grid can access the opportunities,” said Chris Tesarski, BoltCharge’s president.
Working with Electric Fish, the battery manufacturer, Tesarski said the charging stations can provide up to 400 kilowatts of energy within a 10- to 15-minute charge, the equivalent of 320 km for an average EV.
“The most exciting thing about the Electric Fish unit is that it does not have to rely on the grid; in fact, it can be a grid enhancer,” said Tesarski. “Using bidirectional charging, it can send energy back to the grid if required, but it can also function entirely separately.”
County councillors were interested, although many had questions about the reliability and function of the technology, which has yet to be used in a commercial capacity in Canada. While Electric Fish tested the technology in the United States, including in Michigan, New York, and mountainous parts of California, it hadn’t been exposed to temperatures below -25 C.
“We get temperatures deeper than -40 C, which is a far cry from -25,” said Coun. Gary Cromwell, who was elected in the far north of the county. “-25 feels like a tropical day during a lot of our winters, so how the technology would hold and work in that type of climate (is a concern).”
Tesarski said the company had been working on solutions for the problem but was unable to expand further — he did add that the life expectancy was still improving in the cold.
“We’re transparent, we’ll make sure we provide the data,” he said. “We’re working with Electric Fish to look at how to increase (the lifespan). I can tell you for sure, New York and Michigan, they’re cold, but they’re not Athabasca.”
BoltCharge’s units are roughly the size of a parking stall and can charge four units simultaneously. According to Tesarski, each charger would make up its “couple hundred thousand dollars” cost within two years, if it was used at 75 to 80 per cent of its capacity. Tesarski didn’t provide the exact cost, nor an estimate of how many EVs travel along Highway 63.
“If you have a pretty strong usage case, with a lot of cars charging and constant use throughout the day, it’s a pretty quick payback,” said Tesarski. “There’s not a lot of infrastructure costs — it can be deployed quickly, and for a long time frame.”
Coun. Tracy Holland asked if the company had been in talks with the provincial or federal governments, given the portable nature of the systems.
“There are several locations — rest stops, waystations — that are along the route that could be very helpful,” said Holland. “I’m greatly concerned when we have a city that has evacuated once, and again partially twice. How can we get those people out if they aren’t fully charged, or stuck.”
Tesarski said preliminary discussions were underway, but stressed the early nature of the company’s project.
“We see this as a tremendous opportunity for a location that is a charging desert,” said Tesarski. “In times where there’s an emergency or someone is on the highway and they just forgot, having these standalone systems is a critical part of building sustainable infrastructure.”
