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Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
To EV or Not to EV: Should Your New Car Be an Electric Vehicle?
Over the last couple of months, I've had the opportunity to drive a number of different electric cars. Whether you are considering buying or leasing an EV, or renting one on vacation, there are special considerations. The most important consideration is how far you are going. Electric vehicles have ranges up to about 300 miles, so you need to plan your charging. I like to leave some things up to chance when I travel. Should I stop at this donut shop? Do I have time for a quick hike at this state park? Figuring out EV charging cannot be left to chance. It takes planning. Download PlugShare EV drivers act like they're part of the club and they are happy to welcome new members. The first time I drove the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E, guys who were charging their EVs kept running over to check out the electric SUV and offer advice. The most important tip I got from other drivers of electric vehicles: Download PlugShare. PlugShare consolidates info from many different electric chargers, including ChargePoint, Electrify America, FLO, EVgo, EV Connect, and Tesla. In addition to that overview, you'll want to consider downloading the app for the electric charger brand designed for your EV. That will get you discounts when you charge through the app. Do this BEFORE your first road trip. My husband desperately downloading different apps and trying to find us a charger as I anxiously eyed the dwindling range of an electric car is not an experience I would wish upon anyone else. I was actually happy when we hit traffic, because the regenerative braking – the captured energy from the brakes recharges the battery – gave us a few extra miles. Basically, there are two types of connectors to EV chargers: TeslaEverything else It's sort of like Apple device chargers and everything else. If you have an Apple iPad, you need to have your Apple charger when you travel. You can't just use a charger for a Samsung Galaxy. Same with Tesla. To further confuse drivers, non-Tesla charging stations say they can be used by any type of electric vehicle. They can IF – and this is a very big if – you have a special adaptor. That special charger doesn't come with your rental Tesla. Whatever you think of the politics of Tesla's founder, Elon Musk, the Tesla Model X is the gold standard of electric cars. Its super-fast proprietary charging network is one of the main reasons for that. Teslas can be fully charged in about 20 minutes at these superchargers. And to help spur the adoption of its electric vehicles, Tesla built an extensive network of chargers. Even the entry-level Tesla Model Y SUV has a range of more than 300 miles on a single charge. If you buy or rent a Tesla, you can drive with relative ease, knowing you can find Tesla chargers almost anywhere. And, if you happen to have that little adaptor, you can charge the Tesla at any other electric charger Tesla is opening up its chargers to other EVs. The Chevy Equinox I drove had an adaptor that allowed you to charge at a Tesla supercharger. Ford, Rivian, GM, Polestar, Volvo, Nissan, Lucid, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia all also can be charged at Tesla charging stations. Although car companies are competitors, they all want people to buy their cars, and having a robust network of chargers is one of the best ways to make buyers feel comfortable buying EVs. If you own an electric vehicle, or properly plan ahead with a rental, range anxiety is mitigated. For example, when I drove the Lexus RZ 450e, I downloaded the Lexus app. It gave me information on nearby available chargers. And you can plan a route on the app, with info on where to charge. And Audi eliminates range anxiety, at least for a week, when you buy an e-tron, its line of prestige luxury electric cars. You get a free week in a gas-powered rental if you plan on going off the grid and/or think won't be able to find electric vehicle chargers for a road trip. If you find yourself running low on charge, know that climate control can eat up precious range. Just like running the AC causes you to burn more gas, using climate control can cause your range to drop faster. Using wireless charging or connecting your phone via Apple CarPlay uses some power, too. So if you are worried about having enough juice to get somewhere, charge your phone at home before you drive. And of course, speeding eats up the charge. Or, rather, driving fast. I was recently on a road with a 70 mph speed limit, but driving 65 in the right-hand lane extended the charge. There are a lot of incentives when you buy an electric vehicle. There is a federal rebate, and many states also offer a rebate. Buying or leasing a Hyundai IONIQ or BMW ix gets you two years of free charging. And entry-level trim models on many electric vehicles rival prices of gas-powered cars. The Audi e-tron models I drove all cost more than $100,000, but Audi makes similar gas-powered models that are also in that price range. And that doesn't include the government incentives (for now) on electric vehicles. There is almost no compromise with the Chevrolet Equinox EV. I drove the base model, just $33,600. It has a range of 319 miles, which means it could get me from Brooklyn to Philadelphia, and back, with an added trip to Jones Beach. It had some nice touches, like one pedal driving and a huge infotainment screen. I loved the flush handles, which give the vehicle a sleeker look. The roomy interior could easily fit a bicycle in the back. And if you're a cyclist, you would be pleased that the safety features include front pedestrian AND bicyclist braking, along with side bicycle alert. With the proliferation of bike lanes, these are important features. The only thing missing was Apple CarPlay. But with a built-in Nav system, the Equinox got us where we needed to go, comfortably and in style. I drove the astonishing Hyundai Ioniq 6, which starts at $35K, to a family reunion in Pennsylvania. This comfy 5 seater has a range of almost 370 miles, plenty of room in the trunk, and all the latest safety features. We were particularly taken with the pedestrian and cyclist alerts. In NYC, recreational bikers, delivery guys and people on unicycles, scooters, cargo bikes and more, crowd the streets, and pedestrians pop out between parked cars and into the already chaotic street scene. The Ioniq 6 gives the driver a fighting chance. The Ioniq 6 has enough range to take you to Boston, Washington, DC, or Buffalo, NY with no need to charge. But the fast charging makes this a great road trip car. And once you arrive, you can plug the car into a regular outlet for slow recharging from a regular outlet. Lexus RZ450e The Lexus RZ 450e is the first fully electric car in the luxe Lexus brand. The premium trim model of this electric SUV includes lots of the luxury touches expected in a Lexus: a heated steering wheel, heated and cooled front seats, and a panoramic sunroof. The premium model I drove included a head-up display, lane change assist, and front cross-traffic alert, a heated rear seat, and an upgraded sound system. The emergency braking was a bit hyperactive, engaging when I was parking, and still several feet from any obstacle. But it would be helpful in real-world situations with new drivers. The Lexus infotainment system connects wirelessly with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I appreciated that there was both a touchscreen and an old-school volume button. There is also wireless charging (for your phone, not the car) and five charging ports throughout the roomy car. I drove the Lexus when all three of my grown-up kids were home and there was plenty of headroom and legroom for our family of five. And the ride quality was excellent, even from the backseat. Charging the Lexus 450e The Lexus 450e has all-wheel drive and safety features like a blind spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert. The range is 220 miles with 18-inch wheels and 196 miles with 20-inch wheels. That is plenty of range for just driving around NYC on a single charge, but I took trips to Westchester and Long Island, in addition to Bedford, so I had to charge. But my anxiety level was low – I just worried about normal mom things like my kids' health and happiness, and normal adult things like the wars in Ukraine and the Mideast. I didn't have car-related anxiety. I used public charging by Flo, which is now on streets throughout NYC. Each station has 2 chargers, and no one is supposed to park there without charging. But I have seen regular gas cars parked there. I don't know if they are ticketed. I also found that some electric car owners are not very cooperative. They parked at the charging station without actually plugging in. So when you check the Flo app and see that there's a charging spot open, you might drive over and find out that someone is parked there, blocking access to the charger. The app can't tell you that. But all in all, it was a very chill experience. I parked the car there and the Flo app told me how much I would have to pay. Lexus app told me how long it would take to charge. If you leave the electric vehicle at the charger, still plugged in, you still pay, even after the car is fully charged. It behooves you to pay attention. Charging costs $2.50 an hour during the day, and $1 an hour at night. It is far cheaper than gas. The Lexus RZ 450e starts at $59,000 for the premium trim model. The luxury model starts at $65,000. When you buy an Audi EV, you get 2 years of free charging with Electrify America. And though the Audi Q8 e-tron has a range of 285 miles, you needn't worry if you have an even longer trip planned. Audi offers e-tron owners a week of 'Audi on demand' – you can borrow a gas-powered car for free (plus gas) for those trips. I took turns driving both the Audi Q8 e-tron and Audi RS e-tron GT around southern Connecticut. The Audi e-tron, an electric SUV, is great for a family car, or for adventurous couples who want to throw their bikes in the back. It has an improved battery pack and can charge from 10% (worrisome) to 80% (Zen) in half an hour. Longer than gassing up the car, true, but the last time we had to fill up a regular car on the New Jersey Turnpike, there was a long gas line. And between going to the bathroom, taking the dog for a walk, and checking emails, we spent 25 minutes at the rest stop anyway. The Q8 e-tron SUV has massage seats that make driving truly pleasurable. The Bang & Olufsen sound system adds to the fun (the Bang & Olufsen speakers are in both vehicles). The adaptive cruise control also helps make the ride relaxing. Also relaxing: the range. The 2024 Q8 Sportback e-tron has an estimated range of 300 miles for the top trim level with ultra package, a 30% increase over the 2023 e-tron Sportback. With its low, aerodynamic roofline, the RS is a sporty performance car. You feel like you're in a cockpit, but with plenty of headroom since you sit so low. Not sure how it would feel to get in and out of the Audi with a tight skirt on. The entry-level Premium Plus RS e-tron starts at around $105K, and the premier model, which includes a head-up display and heated rear seats, is $113K. The top-of-the-line RS, which I drove, starts at $143,900. It has a 637-horsepower powertrain, which means it can take off like a rocketship. The e-tron GT can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, but if you do that a lot, you probably won't reach the EPA range of 249. In some ways, this is a chicken-or-egg problem. Most car manufacturers have pledged to convert to electric motors, so we will all have to go there eventually. The question really is: Do you switch now and pressure your local area to install more electric vehicle chargers, or do you wait till you have to switch and forego all the benefits of driving green now? In my Brooklyn neighborhood, many electric vehicle drivers run extension cords from the street to their houses to charge their cars. If you have a solar roof and an EV, you are doing your part for the environment. My brother, who bought the first-generation Toyota Prius, had actually put down a deposit on the Lexus RZ 450e, so when I drove it to his house on Thanksgiving, I wanted him to see the one I was driving. Despite having a garage where he can charge at home, he is worried about how far he can go on a single charge. Until he has a portable battery pack he can bring along, he won't pull the plug. The post To EV or Not to EV: Should Your New Car Be an Electric Vehicle? appeared first on She Buys Travel. Copyright © 2025 SheBuysTravel · All Rights Reserved
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
I was told my electric car had a driving range of 800km... I had barely made it out of Brisbane when the real trouble began
An Aussie four-wheel driver has slammed hybrid EVs as a 'false economy' after putting a hybrid vehicle to the test in a cross-country road trip. Gold Coast man Shaun Whale was only 100km into a 2,000km drive from Brisbane to the Simpson Desert last month when the BYD Shark hybrid vehicle he tasked with the journey already needed a charge. 'I've apparently got a range of 800km, I'm 100km-ish out of Brisbane, I've got a quarter of a tank of fuel and I'm out of battery,' he said in a video posted to the popular YouTube account, 4WD 24/7. 'So, something's not quite right at the moment.' He interrupted the journey to stop in at a designated charging station, where the first outlet he tried turned out to be out of order. Lacking the cable required to use a separate outlet within the same station, he drove on to a second charging station where the only vacant outlet was again out of order. Only at the third station - after two failed attempts and already hours into the drive - was he able to begin the charging process. While he agreed the vehicles were desirable for those driving short distances in urban areas, Mr Whale concluded the technology was 'not quite there'. 'Overall, what I'm seeing with these vehicles is it's a little bit of a false economy... in the sense that all the great things you want out of a ute are not quite there,' he said. 'My whole point is these PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) might suit people in the inner city with short commutes, but don't cut it if you drive long distances,' he told the Daily Mail. 'They are terrible when it comes to fuel consumption compared to a standard diesel ute if you plan on driving any real distance.' The unreliability of public EV chargers is a major concern among road users, with 13 per cent of registered chargers in Australia being unavailable when reviewed in May. Of Australia's nearly 6,000 registered public charger sites with 15,290 connectors, nine per cent were under repair and four per cent were listed as 'coming soon'. Arcadis national asset management lead Clara Owen, who extracted the data from PlugShare, said the issue stressed the need for better monitoring and maintenance. 'We need predictive maintenance, we need real-time monitoring and networks that perform like critical infrastructure,' Ms Owen told The Drive. 'If I turned up at a petrol station and they said "sorry we're out of petrol," you can imagine the furore. Chargers should be the same.' Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) president Chris Jones has called for financial penalties for operators who fail to maintain their chargers. 'There absolutely needs to be some kind of financial penalty for neglecting service licence agreements,' Mr Jones said. 'The thing that's grinding our gears is the fact that charge point operators are often in receipt of public funds to expand their footprint, but they never seem to prioritise the maintenance of their hardware.' The complaints are widespread on EV user social media pages, with many sharing similar stories of abandoned road trips and emergency tow operations. When Tanya Turner-Jones took her BYD SUV on its first road trip in March, she made sure to plan ahead, mapping out a charging destination along the way. Only upon arriving at the charging station did she find out the charger was out of order, and the second charger required a cable she didn't possess. 'There were no other chargers in this town,' she wrote on the popular Facebook group, EV Owners Australia. 'The distance to our destination was less than the available kms/charge so we pushed on but we didn't get there. 'I pulled over on a side road at about 2 per cent charge and got towed to our destination. I felt so stupid and learned a lot of lessons.' The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) tested five EVs in its Real-World Testing Program and found some models drove up to 111km less on the road than they did in laboratory testing. The 2023 BYD Atto 3 was the worst performer, with a driving range of 369km on a single charge — 23 per cent less than the 480km recorded in its lab testing. The 2024 Tesla Model 3 had a real-world range of 441km, which was 14 per cent less than the 513km it achieved in the lab. The 2022 Kia EV6 and the 2024 Tesla Model Y both had driving ranges eight per cent shorter than their lab tests. The best performer was the 2024 Smart #3, which logged a real-world driving range of 432km, five per cent below its compulsory lab test.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Loop Global Joins PlugShare, Boosting Visibility of Its 7,500+ EV Chargers for Millions of Drivers Nationwide
Integration to increase exposure of EV charging stations to millions of drivers EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Loop Global, Inc. ("Loop"), a leading provider of turnkey electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, announced today that its charging stations are now listed on PlugShare, the most widely used EV charging app in the world. With 9.9 million active installs on mobile devices worldwide, PlugShare helps millions of EV drivers discover, rate, and navigate to public charging stations. With Loop's integration into the PlugShare platform, drivers can now easily locate Loop chargers directly in the app, making EV charging faster, more convenient, and more accessible. "Expanding the visibility and accessibility of our extensive charging network to millions of drivers directly tackles one of the biggest hurdles to EV adoption: trust in reliable charging access," said Olga Shevorenkova, CEO of Loop Global. "Additionally, this partnership brings real value to our property owners and business hosts by driving more foot traffic and longer visits. With PlugShare, we're speeding up the shift to clean transportation while creating benefits for everyone involved." Listing on PlugShare helps Loop further its goal of creating smart, sustainable charging infrastructure that accelerates the adoption of electric vehicles. This visibility makes it easier for drivers to find reliable charging, while also bringing increased value to Loop's diverse network of hosts, from commercial spaces and retailers to municipalities and multi-family residences. "Integrating Loop's vast network strengthens our mission to make EV charging seamless, intelligent, and widely accessible," said Norman Hajjar, Managing Director of PlugShare. "With the addition of Loop's network onto the PlugShare platform, we're ensuring that EV drivers can confidently find reliable charging options wherever their journey takes them." About Loop GlobalLoop Global is a leading provider of comprehensive, turnkey electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for customers worldwide. The company offers a complete suite of hardware, software, and services, and its aesthetic and streamlined charging stations are differentiated by their focus on industry-leading uptime, user convenience, and reliability. With a commitment to innovation, reliability, and customer needs, Loop prides itself on its unmatched solution. Applying a consultative, portfolio-based strategy, Loop guides customers through every step of the EV charging deployment journey with ease and confidence, supporting the shift toward sustainable transportation. This approach has earned Loop long-standing relationships with marquee customers, including AvalonBay Communities, Reem Mall, and AMLI Residential, among others. For more information, visit About PlugShareBased in El Segundo, CA, PlugShare has been helping the EV driver and business community find the way forward in the transition to electrified transportation since 2010. Free to EV drivers, the PlugShare app (iOS and Android) and website guide drivers to public charging, providing millions of crowd-sourced ratings, charging photos, and a forum to make their opinions known. For the EV industry, PlugShare maintains the world's most comprehensive census of EV infrastructure, made available through a powerful desktop analytical tool and a licensable API for use in navigation systems, third-party apps, and more. PlugShare Research is an industry-leading source for "voice of the driver" insights. PlugShare Advertising is the most efficient way to target the elusive EV driver audience. Media ContactSara Linehansara@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Loop Global, Inc. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Man of Many
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Man of Many
This Fuel-Station-Like EV Charging Centre in California Gave Me Hope About the Future of EVs
By Ben McKimm - News Published: 30 Jun 2025 Share Copy Link Readtime: 4 min Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here. I've driven more than 100 EVs and the story is always the same when it comes to charging—it sucks! I could count the positive charging experiences I've had using the public network on one hand, and it's only getting worse. Despite an increase in the number of EV chargers, it hasn't grown at the rate of electric vehicle sales. These days, when a charger isn't broken, slow, or 'ICED' by a petrol vehicle, you're lining up and waiting to charge with all the other frustrated EV owners. It's a painful experience that needs to change quickly, or else the government and the manufacturers risk losing an already slowing battle for sales with Australian EV customers. I find it increasingly difficult to recommend electric vehicles to some people based on my own experiences. With the current state of affairs, I wouldn't recommend buying an EV unless you have access to an EV charger at home or your workplace. However, on a recent trip around California behind the wheel of an EV, I experienced a fuel-station-like charging centre that reset my perspective on the future of EVs. If we want EVs to become the norm, the charging network has to look something like this. I had just finished my drive from Los Angeles to San Bernardino, and I was hunting for an ultra-fast EV charger on PlugShare. The Cadillac VISTIQ I was driving was low on battery, and while the 300 miles (482km) of charge it offers is good, I was driving to Big Bear tomorrow, and with 8,000ft of elevation to conquer, I needed a full charge to make it there are back. This is California, so I had plenty of options to choose from, but I stumbled across something that looked too good to be true—an EV charging oasis with 41 ultra-fast chargers. Greenlane Charging Centre in Colton, CA 92324, USA is a commercial electric vehicle charging centre that services electric trucks along Interstate 10, which is one of the country's busiest highways. It's home to 41 chargers, mainly for trucks, and while I was there, I witnessed multiple truck drivers pull up, decouple their trailer, put their truck on charge, and then swap to another fully-charged truck before reconnecting their trailer and continuing with their journey. Even that blew me away, but I was here to charge my Cadillac. What I found was a seamless and fast experience that felt exactly like visiting a petrol station. While my Cadillac VISTIQ couldn't make the most of the ultra-fast 400 kW chargers, even the 180 kW of power that I was putting into the large 102 kWh battery meant that I could charge from 10-80% in under 30 minutes. Winner! If I had been there with a Hyundai Ioniq 6 or Porsche Taycan, I could've charged at 350 kW and left there in around 20 minutes. It's the future of EVs that we had all been promised. Greenlane Charging Centre | Image: Ben McKimm The only real negative was the cost. You pay for the convenience, and with a cost of $0.59 per kWh, I was charged the equivalent of AUD$80 to charge the car, which is not far off the cost of refuelling a car in California. Still, it was an experience that left me wondering how different life could be here in Australia if we had charging locations like this, and the energy to supply them. So what's happening here in Australia to bring us closer to that perfect EV future? The NSW Government recently committed $199 million to help co-fund the installation of chargers with private operators. However, it's unclear how many of these new chargers are the much-needed ultra-fast DC units like those I experienced in California. We only know four things for sure: The new chargers will be installed every 5km along Sydney's major commuter corridors Every 100km along major highways in NSW, on average Within 5km of residential areas with limited off-street parking, and In or near commuter car parks and other Transport for NSW-owned land. It's more likely that the chargers being installed are medium-speed 50 kW DC units that can charge an EV in closer to 2 hours. If they're not, they're likely slower AC chargers like those that the local government keeps trying to attach to telephone poles (even though you'd have to sit there for 10 hours to charge a car at one). However, I'd love to be proven wrong! For now, it still sucks to charge an EV in Australia, but the Greenlane Charging Centre in Colton, California gave me hope that where there's a will, there's a way when it comes to the future of EVs.
CBC
25-06-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
How these condo dwellers got EV charging in their buildings
One of the biggest perks of owning an EV is waking up to a fully charged car every morning and never having to go to a gas station — that is, if you have at-home charging. Before Lucian Oboroceanu got EV chargers installed in his Toronto condo building, keeping his car charged was a pain. "I had to go around the city to find [a] charger and it was very difficult," he recalled. In a recent survey of 16,000 Canadian EV drivers by CAA and PlugShare, 85 per cent of respondents in single-family homes had access to home charging, compared to 62 per cent of those in multi-family buildings. In that survey, only 20 per cent of EV owners lived in a multi-family building, even though about a third of Canadians live in this kind of housing. Oboroceanu soon learned he wasn't the only person in his 350-unit building who was concerned about the lack of charging — several neighbours brought it up at the board's general meeting. One was trying to sell his unit and kept getting questions about the availability of EV charging from prospective buyers. As board treasurer, Oboroceanu decided to address the problem. Two years later, EV chargers are installed in the personal parking spots of anyone in the building who wants one, including his own. Retrofitting condo buildings with EV chargers can pose a challenge, as Oboroceanu learned. CBC News spoke with him and several other condo owners who succeeded, and learned what they did to make it work. Why getting charging into older condos is hard Joanna Kyriazis, public affairs director for the think-tank Clean Energy Canada, said it typically costs about $1,500 to install a Level 2 charger in a single-family home, but it can be far more to retrofit a multi-family building. (It's much cheaper in a new building.) That's because installation can be complex and involve expensive drilling and long-distance wiring through multiple levels of parking. When Oboroceanu first looked into what it would take to get charging for 10 cars in his condo building, he was shocked to learn it would cost $50,000 — a no-go. Some buildings also have limited electrical capacity. Peter Luff of Kanata, Ont., a suburb of Ottawa, calculated that to have charging capacity for all eight condo units, his building could only install Level 1 charging rather than the faster Level 2 charging that can fill an empty battery overnight. The good news is that Level 1 is often fast enough for many drivers, including Luff. Kyriazis said electrical capacity is often not an issue, thanks to technology that can monitor and optimize charging, but people may not know about those solutions. One final issue: How will EV owners pay for charging and the electricity they use? "There's not a standard way of doing this yet," said Kyriazis. Systems that manage charging and payment often require network connectivity, which can also add to infrastructure costs. Do your research While all these can be challenging, Oboroceanu, Luff and Kyriazis have some advice for success. Surveying one's building, residents and government subsidies are good places to start. Luff contacted the local electrical utility and nearby buildings that already had charging to get information. So did Dave Wong of Vancouver, B.C., who lives in a 36-storey highrise with 132 units. He learned from neighbours about federal and provincial programs that when stacked together with a subsidy from B.C. Hydro could defer almost all costs. He also got the names of four local vendors and quotes for different possible configurations. Finally, he hand-delivered surveys to every unit in his building to find out how many people had EVs, and how many planned to buy one in the next five years. Educate neighbours and build allies Cara Clairman, president and CEO of Plug'n Drive, an EV advocacy group, said getting neighbours on board is important, as a condo board will need to approve EV charging first. Wong and Luff both provided information about EVs and EV uptake to their neighbours. For example, Wong noted in his survey that B.C. will require 100 per cent of new vehicle sales to be zero emissions by 2035, increasing the future demand for EV charging. They argued that potential buyers will want EV charging in their building — something Oroboceanu's neighbours were already finding in 2023. Wong also argued that it would be cheaper to retrofit the whole building at once, especially since subsidies were available at the time. WATCH | Road to EV adoption: Why experts think the future is still electric Road to EV adoption: Why experts think the future is still electric 9 months ago Duration 5:47 Recent headlines have suggested that consumers are losing interest in electric vehicles, but a closer look at the trends tells a different story. CBC's Nisha Patel breaks down where we're at in the EV transition and why experts say the future is still electric. Keep your building's needs in mind Through his survey, Wong learned there were only five EV owners in his building. (He didn't even have one himself.) So instead of installing a charger in every spot, the building just wired every spot to be EV-ready at a cost of $1,000 per unit (with subsidies), with the option to add a Level 2 charger for $3,500. To Wong's surprise, 20 people did that. Luff went with Level 1 charging. His board learned that Ontario would allow the project to be paid for from the condo's reserve fund "so there was no problem in coming up with the money." He also kept payments simple, buying $40 electricity meters for all the new outlets. Residents pay bills based on the reading each month. The one disadvantage, he said, is that the system is "totally reliant on you being honest." That likely wouldn't work for a large building like Oboroceanu's. His research on local vendors in Toronto eventually brought him to Smart EV Systems, which offered a package with no upfront cost to install an electrical panel serving up to 10 EV chargers. He rents his charger and pays for the electricity monthly. Kyriazis said hiring companies like that can be a good solution, as they take care of many of the complexities. But she said she has heard mixed reviews on the payment schemes, which can cost more in the long run. So far, though, Oboroceanu is pleased with the result — so pleased that he's recommending the service to some of the 150 buildings he manages through Newton-Trelawney Property Management. For those looking to get EV charging in their own buildings, Plug'n Drive and Clean Energy Canada are working on a new guide that they hope to release in the fall.
