The new agreement between SWTCH and Electric Circuit will enable electric vehicles users to access thousands more chargers at public sites and multi-tenant properties across Canada using one app

Thousands of chargers across Canada have just become more accessible for electric vehicle drivers via a new roaming agreement.

Toronto-based electric vehicle charging and energy management company for multi-residential properties, SWTCH, and Electric Circuit, the EV charging network operated by Hydro-Québec, have signed a roaming agreement that allows account holders to charge their vehicles on either network through either company’s mobile app.

“Electric vehicle owners want to have the freedom to go wherever they want and they want that experience to be as seamless as possible,” said France Lampron, director of energy and mobility solutions at Hydro-Québec in a press statement.

“The new roaming agreement between SWTCH Energy and the Electric Circuit helps us meet that need for our users.”

This deal with SWTCH is the latest roaming agreement Electric Circuit has entered into. In December 2021, the charging operators signed roaming agreements with ChargePoint and Mercedes-Benz Canada’s charging ecosystem, Mercedes me Charge.

The company also has existing deals with national network operators FLO and New Brunswick’s eCharge network.

Access to more chargers

Roaming between the SWTCH and Electric Circuit networks is currently live and available. This means EV drivers who use Electric Circuit charging stations will have access to 2,750 SWTCH-operated chargers located at multi-tenant properties across North America, without having to download another app to find, access or pay for a SWTCH charger.

Meanwhile, drivers with SWTCH’s app gain access to an additional 3,800 Electric Circuit chargers — including 600 fast-charging stations — in Quebec and areas of eastern Ontario.

No special action is required for drivers, building owners or managers to enable roaming at these chargers.

“With forty-six percent of all registered electric vehicles in Canada located in Quebec, this agreement with the Electric Circuit allows us to give our drivers more charging opportunities at home, work and on the go,” said Carter Li, SWTCH CEO and co-founder in a press statement.

“We are excited to expand our charging network through roaming and eliminate range anxiety for our users.”

The roaming integration between Electric Circuit and SWTCH is enabled by the ChargeHub Passport Hub — a platform that gives users access to multiple charging networks using a single account.

Network operators, such as SWTCH, must sign up with ChargeHub, which is a community-driven platform that offers EV charging solutions, in order to have their stations activated and visible on the ChargeHub app.

Currently, there are over 60,000 charging ports owned by different network operators in the U.S. and Canada that are interoperable through the Passport Hub.

ChargeHub describes its activity as a charging network aggregator that “leverages the contributions of its EV community to enable transparency in the reliability and accessibility of public charging stations on the North American continent.”