No new charging stations coming for North Bay or Timmins, province confirms

Northern Ont. cities left out of EV charger plan An EV advocate is wondering why Timmins and North Bay were left out of a plan to expand charging ports in the province.

One electric vehicle advocate is wondering why two northern Ontario cities have not been included in the Ford government’s latest plans to boost accessibility to electric vehicle charging stations.

Last week, Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce announced more than 1,300 new EV charging ports are coming to communities across Ontario, including 190 at 45 sites in the north.

“From Trenton to Timmins and to Bellville and Brampton,” Lecce stated in his remarks.

But both Timmins and North Bay were curiously not included.

"These public stations will be relied upon more heavily in the future," said Devin Arthur, president of the Greater Sudbury Electric Vehicle Society.

"So, the more infrastructure the better."

The province is spending $63 million on new EV charging ports at sites across the province for communities with a population under 170,000.

"These chargers will be located at arenas, at community centres, at recreation centres, at hospitals and other local sites in communities that have until now limited access to charging infrastructure," Lecce said.

Arthur said due to the long travel distance between cities in the north, there needs to be charging ports set up at rest stops on Highways 11 and 17.

"From Sudbury to Timmins, there's no charging infrastructure between them. So, it does make it more difficult for people," he said.

A barrier for people

"We've heard from consumers all over the province that charging infrastructure, especially in more rural and northern areas, is a priority for people and it’s a barrier for purchasing EVs."

In an updated statement issued to CTV News Monday afternoon, Lecce’s office said the government has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the installation of EV chargers on Hwy. 144 between Timmins and Sudbury to make it easier to charge when they are travelling away from home (Watershed Truck Rest Area).

"The government has also identified other key rest areas across the north including Argon Park, Batchewana Tourist Information Centre, Marten River, the Ontario/Manitoba border, Ryland, Klotz Lake, and Terrace Bay," ministry spokesperson Natasha Demetriades wrote.

"While all applications for the EV ChargeON Program were assessed and scored based on publicly communicated criteria and applications were approved to ensure an equitable geographic distribution of chargers across the province, there were no applications submitted in the North Bay area."

It’s estimated there are more than 201,000 electric vehicles registered in Ontario, including both battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

By 2030, more than one million EVs are expected to be on Ontario roads.