New EV Charging Corridor to Connect Quebec City to Michigan

by Guillaume Rivard May 18, 2023

Back in March, Canada and the U.S. announced that both countries will work to harmonize the charging experience for electric vehicle drivers and develop cross-border alternative fuel corridors. The first of these was detailed this week by Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

The corridor will require EV charging infrastructure to be installed every 80 km. Also, there will be at least one Direct Current (DC) fast chargers with Combined Charging System (CCS) ports.

It will stretch from Kalamazoo, Michigan all the way to Quebec City in La Belle Province, passing along I-94 highway, through the tunnel in Detroit to the Canadian side of the border, Highway 401 through Toronto, Highway 20 in Montreal and Highway 40 through Quebec City.

This route represents one of the busiest passenger and trade corridors between the two countries. It is also a hub for vehicle manufacturing and a key component of Canada’s national transportation system.

“This first cross-border alternative fuel corridor will help drivers to travel across the border and charge or refuel worry-free,” Alghabra said. “It contributes to bringing us another step closer to making our air cleaner while helping people save money on traditional fuels."

The number of EV chargers is rapidly increasing across the country, but it will need to grow much faster. The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (CVMA), which represents the Detroit Three automakers in Canada, said last year that Canada is at risk of seriously lagging behind most countries when it comes to EV chargers.

There are over 16,000 public chargers in Canada. Ottawa has promised to help build 50,000 new chargers over the next eight years, which sounds like a lot but is actually not very ambitious when weighed against EV sales targets set for 2030, the CVMA claims.

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