Electric charging stations to be added along Highway 20

Electric-car owners will be able to drive pastRimouskifrom Montreal without fear of running out of battery power.

By the end of the year, additional charging stations will be added to Highway 20, allowing drivers to recharge along a570-kilometre route ending in Mont-Joli.

• Electric car boom drives surge in charging-station demand

Premier Philippe Couillardmade the announcement during a news conference Monday at the Electric Car Symposium, an important gathering of the international electric-vehicle industry,being held this year in Montreal.

"We see today that electric transport is not a fiction, it's a reality," Couillard said.

Double double and charge it up

There are already a series of charging stations along Highway 20 run by Electric Circuit, a public charging networkpartnered with Hydro-Qubec.

The new charging stations comeas a result of deals with restaurants along the highway, including La Belle QubcoiseinDaveluyville andTim HortonsinLaurier Station.

A second-phase will feature the construction of fast-charge stations, which can dramatically reduce the amount of time required to top up a battery.

Car owners will need anElectric Circuit membership card to recharge their vehicles. Electric Circuitcharges a $2.50 flat fee for topping up at its 240-volt stations (or at a $1 hourly rate in Montreal).

Charging at fast-charge, or 400-volt stations, costs $10 per hour. According to CAA, a 480-volt station can top up 80 per cent ofa battery in as little as 20 minutes.

• Quebec plans to set minimum sale quota on electric cars

Infrastructurein place

Couillard said having a charging circuit in place is a necessary element in encouraging more Quebecersto buy electric vehicles.

"Quebecersare receptive to the message and taking action by buying electric cars," Couillard said, noting that sales of electric vehicles are on the rise in Quebec.

"But that to continue, incentives have to be present."

The Quebec governmentannounced earlier this month that itwants 15.5 per cent of all vehicles sold in the province to beelectric or low-emission by 2025.

But as industry observers have pointed out, few drivers will be motivatedto switch to electric without a reliable network where they can charge their vehicles.

"To get thatinfrastructureinplace now is going to be critical," Brian Millar,a spokesman forPlug'nDrive, an advocacy organization for electricvehicles,told CBC News recently.

"Otherwise,wewill wake up one day andrealize'Oh darn,we don't haveany electrical vehicleinfrastructure."

Last October, Quebec promised to spend$420 million over the next five years on its new vehicle-electrification plan.

The plan includes installing 785 public-access charging stations and 60 or so quick-charging stations. It will also askbusinesses to install charging units for employees.

• 1,000 electric car charging stations coming to Montreal by 2020