EV chargers being installed in Clearview
Clearview Township’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are being installed throughout the municipality.
Six chargers are already activated and another 14 are waiting to be either activated or installed at identified locations in Creemore, New Lowell, Duntroon and Nottawa.
Council approved the installation of 10 stations, each equipped with two Level 2 chargers, in June after hearing a pitch from Hypercharge, a Canadian EV infrastructure company operating across North America. Hypercharge applied for a Government of Canada Energy Savings rebate on behalf of the township, and was successful in securing a rebate of roughly 47.5 per cent of the cost of the 10 charging stations. The township was responsible to pay the balance of about $110,000.
The infrastructure will one day support the township’s own fleet of vehicles as it transitions to EVs and in the meantime will service the growing number of visitors who drive EVs.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Clearview Township’s director of parks and recreation Terry Vachon, who has been overseeing the installation of the chargers. “These are township owned charging stations so we are not at the mercy of the private sector and their rates. These are community owned charging stations so we can control our own rates.”
The activated stations are located at town hall in Stayner and at the Brock Street parking area, with two more installed at the Stayner arena that are waiting to be activated.
In Creemore, there will be two stations at the arena and one at Station on the Green, which are expected to be installed in the next couple of weeks, following approval from the hydro authority.
There will also be one in New Lowell, in the vicinity of the park, fire station and public works yard, and staff is awaiting confirmation for one station at Duntroon Hall and another at the hall in Nottawa.
“With locations like the Station on the Green and Brock Street in Stayner we can try to attract folks with electric cars to park in our downtown cores and go walking, eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores,” said Vachon.
Drivers can access the chargers via the Hypercharge app. The rates have been set at 0-1kW, free; 1-3 kW, $1 per hour; and 3-32 kW, $1.50 per hour. Users will also be able to pay by tapping their debit and credit cards.
Vachon said more chargers may have to be added at township facilities as the municipality’s fleet grows.
The Level 2 chargers on Brock Street are across the street from a fast charger that was installed by the County of Simcoe.
Trina Berlo photo: New EV chargers installed on Brock Street in Stayner.
