Ontario says another five electric vehicle charging stations are being added to ONroutes along major highways.
Charging stations have been added to Ingleside, Tilbury North, Tilbury South, Woodstock and Innisfil ONroutes, according to the province.
“Ontario is putting shovels in the ground to build critical infrastructure that will boost EV ownership, support Ontario’s growing EV manufacturing industry and reduce emissions,” Minister of Energy Todd Smith said.
The new electric vehicle charging stations are part of a plan announced in December. The province, Ivy Charging Network, ONRoute and Canadian Tire have partnered to build 69 chargers at Ontario’s ONroutes.
ONroute operates 23 service centres along highways 401 and 400.
So far, 11 chargers have been built. There were six before Friday’s announcement.
There are electric vehicle fast chargers at the following ONroutes:
- Cambridge South
- Cambridge North
- West Lorne
- Dutton
- Odessa
- Ingleside
- Tilbury North
- Tilbury South
- Woodstock
- Innisfil
- Napanee
Additional chargers are scheduled to come online this year.
King City and Barrie will open charging stations later in 2022, while Maple, Ingersoll and Newcastle expect to install them between 2023 and 2025.
Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation said the announcement showed the province was making “life easier for those who drive electric vehicles”.
In 2018, when the Ford government took power, Metrolinx removed 24 electric chargers from GO station parking lots. It marked the end of a Liberal government pilot, with Metrolinx citing low demand.
The province said there were 75,000-plus electric vehicles registered in Ontario as of Feb. 28, 2022.
It is expected that one in three cars will be electric by 2030.