Does Canada already have an EV charging infrastructure? Not really
One of the biggest issues with rolling out large numbers of plug-in vehicles is figuring out where exactly to connect them to the grid. Cities around the world are looking at how to implement large numbers of public charging stations as well as support charging at home. Much of the territory in Canada lies in far northern areas where temperatures get extremely cold during the winter. In many of those areas it's not at all unusual to find posts sticking up out of parking areas with electrical outlets. These are of course used to power the block heaters that are often necessary to keep the engine coolant from freezing at extreme low temperatures.
While these plugs could certainly be used to charge electric vehicles, they would not be very practical. These are 110V (typically 15A) plugs that would take a very long time to charge an EV – something many early MINI E customers found out the hard way. The other problem is that while much of Canada is in cold northern areas, most of the population lives in a very small area along the southern edge of the country. Most of the people likely to adopt EVs live in places like Toronto and Vancouver where these block heater plugs aren't common in public places. The exceptions might be Winnipeg, Montreal and Quebec City which do get very cold in winter. Relatively few people live in places where block heater plugs are common and the rural nature of those areas makes them less suited to EVs. Thanks to Frank for the tip!
[Source: Canada.com]
Photo by ffg - Flickr - Creative Commons
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pgrt 8:25AM (7/13/2009)
Plugs aren't for keeping coolant from freezing, they are for warming up the lubricant/motor oil so that your motor doesn't work first seconds without oil. My coolant can handle -50C so it's not a problem. At least that's how it is here in Finland. One or two hours before start up is enough to get the oil flowing.
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Rémi 8:52AM (7/13/2009)
You are right !!!! One or two hours before start up is enough
Roger 10:14AM (7/13/2009)
A similar situation exists in northern Sweden, according to a colleague of mine. Likely this will work somewhat better, as the plugs are likely 230V 15A, so twice as much charge can be transferred, making this a better proposition. This is 3.5kW, so a 15kWh pack would charge in about 4.5 hours, no problem for a night charge, or even at work.
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David Martin 9:33AM (7/13/2009)
Many of the batteries don't work very well at extremely low temperatures.
The exception if the Altairnano battery, which is good for down to -60C.
It might work out that places which are very cold will have to pay more for more suitable batteries, although other solutions may be possible with pre-warmers etc.
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why not the LS2LS7? 11:31AM (7/13/2009)
The center section (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) gets very cold, colder than the Eastern cities you list (Winnepeg is of course not an Eastern city, it's in Manitoba). Don't forget nearly any city you can name in the east (Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City) are all below the 49th parallel, which is the border between Western Canada and the US. Then look at how far north Saskatoon (the most populous city in Saskatchewan) or Calgary are of even that point.
Anyway, my Canadian friends tell me that these plug-in points are useless for charging electric cars because many years ago people decided that instead of just heating their block, the could also keep their car warm and started plugging in space heaters to these and just setting them in the interior of the car. These drew a lot of power and caused problems for the providers of these plugs, so the plugs in many places were reworked with current limiters so you can't draw nearly 15A anymore, if you try, it shuts off the juice entirely.
And besides, as we all know, 15A at 120V means it would take 24 hours for your car to recharge anyway.
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Chris M 2:55PM (7/13/2009)
Calgary has a population of over a million, Edmonton has a population over 780,000, and Saskatoon has a population over 200,000. Any of those would qualify as a major city, all are in very cold winter areas.
While those little "block heater" really outlets aren't adequate for EV charging, they do indicate that power is available, and wiring for higher power EV outlets is possible. Of course, I suspect that there will be a trend to start metering both the EV outlets and the "block heater" outlets, as apparently some people have been abusing the priviledge a bit, using too much electricity and costing the providers too much in power bills.
Wasserboxer 8:27PM (7/13/2009)
Guys (and girls?), you probably never installed a block heaters you are talking about. And most likely never used them.
First, have a look at the picture, the Focus has the Alaskan license plate.
But that's not important in the discussion.
1. The block heater is installed into one of the antifreeze drain plugs, so, it does not heat your oil directly.
2. "A couple of hours is enough". Well... if you are in a kind of not too cold garage - yes, it is enough. But if the car is outside, and this is close to -20`C, the whole night is barely enough.
3. Winnipeg is warm? If -56`C in winter is warm - so, it warm it is.
And, speaking of infrastructure - of cause 110C/15A is not enough. But it the first and big step towards it. Recall "HD-ready" TVs...
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pgrt 4:19AM (7/14/2009)
1. old block heaters are plugged in to drains which started to leak in 5-15 years, modern heaters are rediating heaters installed under your oil pan. This is the case with my 09 A3 1,4TSI.
2. Block heaters aren't for heating the oil to 90C and definetly not for heating the coolant to such temps. They are to make the oil something like 20-40C wich makes the winter feel like a summer for the engine. One or two hours is plenty for this. My own heater is 380W so it doesn't heat like webasto or other gas burning heater which vary from 4000W to 6500W. In fact if your block heater heats just the oil, not the water, the better the effiency.
3. In finland at -30C, this approach has been used for decades and with a 1,5kWh interior heater, your car can have clear windows and warm interior with just 1 to 2h warmup time.
Matt 10:27PM (7/15/2009)
The other problem with this is that most public outlets do not provide continuous power...they cycle throughout the lot. Some will be on for a couple hours, then turn off and another set turns on
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