For Canada’s Tesla owners, who represented more than half of battery electric vehicle buyers in first nine months of last year, the supercharging network aligns with several other projects bridging charging infrastructure gaps between urban and rural Canada

Tesla has completed the installation and activation of its cross-Canada network of electric vehicle superchargers. Begun in 2014, with stations along the 401 corridor between Toronto and Montreal, the California-based electric car manufacturer’s network now reaches from Vancouver to Halifax, with superchargers in every province except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The final gaps were filled the week before Christmas, when 20 new stations were updated or opened simultaneously, completing a cohesive network along the Trans-Canada Highway.

The network is made up of over 50% of Tesla’s new ultra-fast V3 250kW chargers, which can reportedly add 120 kilometres of range to a Tesla Model 3 in five minutes.

A connected Canada

Although only Tesla drivers will be able to take advantage of these new superchargers, that group makes up a significant portion of Canadian EV owners. In the first nine months of 2019, for instance, 54% of all battery electric vehicles (and 34% of EVs) sold in Canada were Teslas.

The completion of Tesla’s supercharger network follows a trend of rapidly increasing regional and national EV charging connectivity in Canada.

Petro-Canada recently announced the completion of its “Electric Highway”, which already consists of over 50 stations. Electrify Canada, a Volkswagen Group subsidiary, has committed to open 32 charging stations locations across Canada in 2020.

Provincial initiatives abound

In Quebec, which boasts Canada’s largest charging network, the Electric Circuit, Hydro-Québec last year announced plans to add at least 1,600 new fast chargers over the next 10 years to its existing network of more than 2,000 charging stations, including 276 fast-charging locations. Ivy Charging Network, which is co-owned by Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One, has also pledged to open 43 fast charging stations in Ontario this year.

In Western Canada, the Peaks to Prairies network in southern Alberta and Accelerate Kootenays in B.C. have built 32 high-speed charging stations in previously underserved areas. Newfoundland and Labrador has also announced plans to build 14 high speed chargers along highways in the province.

Investment in charging infrastructure even in less-populated areas has been shown to encourage more even rates of electric vehicle adoption across both urban and rural areas. As distances between charging stations even in remote areas of the nation shrink, “range anxiety” becomes less of a concern and consumers become more willing to consider purchasing an EV.

We are as happy as anyone about Tesla's accomplishment!! but giving credit where its due, others have also been hard at work electrifying Canada: https://t.co/YlyeNDhDjv and https://t.co/UgEqj6aaJw (while not as fast, they allowed cross Canada EV trips years ago)
— EVAA (@PluginAlberta) December 24, 2019