Saskatoon is ending the free ride at city-operated EV charging station

One of the city-operated EV charging stations that was subsidized under a pilot program.

City Hall will no longer cover the cost to charge up an electric vehicle at two of its leisure centres.

On Tuesday, the city’s environment, utilities and corporate services committee voted to end a pilot program and begin charging users $5.35 per hour at city-operated electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at Lakewood Civic Centre and Lawson Civic Centre.

“I don’t think taxpayers should be subsidizing costs on people who choose to buy a Tesla,” Ward 4 councillor Troy Davies said.

The two-year pilot was launched in May 2023 with no user fees to support community EV adoption. The pilot experienced “consistent growth in usage and received positive user feedback,” according to a city report.

But administrators say non-EV users voiced concerns over fairness and publicly funding the chargers for roughly $21,400 per year with no return.

The report said EV drivers are often seen as more financially stable and not in need of subsidized services.

“We’ve completed the pilot, and now I think it’s time to take the training wheels off and let it grow,” Mayor Cynthia Block said in support of charging to charge.

Exceeding recommendations from administration, councillors voted to recoup all costs associated with running the stations. Administration presented five options, which ranged from stopping the program, continuing with no user fee, implementing a user fee of $2 per hour, or continuing with a fee of $3 per hour.

Administration recommended a $3 per hour fee, which would recover roughly 56 per cent of the costs. But councillors went with the fifth option presented — the $5.35 per hour, fully cost recovered option.

“I’d say an average SUV for charging at $5 an hour is $40,” Davies said. “If I’m filling up an SUV with gas, it’s probably 60 to 70.”

If approved by city council, the city could implement the new fee in one to two months.

A report on the progress is due back in one year. The city said the pilot program resulted in an estimated reduction of about 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide.