Electric vehicle charging network will be only two thirds complete by Friday deadline, province says

The Ontario government admitted Wednesday that it will fall short of meetingits deadline this Friday ofcreating a network of 475 electric vehicle charging stations in 250 locations across the province, and it's blamingunforeseen problems for the delay.

"We know some of our partners have encountered difficulties around permitting and some of the technical aspects of having some of the chargers up and running," said Transportation Minister StevenDel Duca.

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Two-thirds of the network will be live on Friday with the rest of the stations expected to be up and running by fall, accordingto theMinistry ofTransportation.

"Each of our partners' individual charging stations are subject to different site conditions, land ownership, municipal permitting, electrical grid limitations and other factors which have influenced timelines," saidBob Nichols, senior media liaison officer for the Transportation Ministry, in a statement.

Because the stations arelocated in various community centres, retail outlets and other public spaces, Del Duca said the government'spublic and private sector partners are facingchallenges in obtaining permits but are "motivated to get it right."

Cara Clairman, president and CEO ofPlug'n Drive, anorganization dedicated to accelerating the rollout of electric vehicles, says she isn't concerned about the delay.

"It was a pretty aggressive timeline. The EV community is pretty happy with the fact that it is going to happen. It might be slightly delayed but I think overall the mood is positive," she said.

Clairman said there are now more than 10,000 electric vehicles in the province and that moregrowth is expected. She doesn't believe the delay in the rollout of charging stationswill deter anyone from purchasing electric vehicles.

"It certainly does help to persuade new folks to get on boardbut I think since they know it is coming, I don't see it having a big impact."

Horwath not surprised

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she's not surprised the government didn't meet its target.

"You shouldn't be making these promises if you can't fulfil them, that's the bottom line," she said. "Let's be realistic with
what you're able to achieve."

Progressive Conservative transportation critic Michael Harris suggested the Liberals don't have their priorities straight when it comes to electric vehicles.

"I think the focus for Kathleen Wynne was handing out $14,000 rebates to owners of Teslas, while they really should have been focusing their time and energy on ensuring that the infrastructure for electric vehicles has actually been rolled out," Harris said.

Covering every corner

Del Duca saidthe ministry has seen "some fairly tremendous success" despite the delaysbut that there have been a few challenges in building a network that ranges across the province.

"We definitely want to make sure we're building anetwork that covers every corner of Ontario. Yes, we have some challenges and we are slightly delayed," the minister said.

"We anticipate being able to provide more resources in the coming months to continue to deploy an even broader network of charging infrastructure, including in northern Ontario."

DelDucasaid a map on the ministry'swebsiteshowing where thecharging stations are installed should be updated in the next fewdays.

Premier Wynne committed to building a charging network for electric vehicles across Ontario at the 2015 climate change talks in Paris.

The $20 million in funding forthecharging stations comes from Ontario's $325 million Green Investment Fund, which supports projects that fight climate change.