The city of Estevan in Saskatchewan, Canada, now has a PlugShare charging station that offers free charging for your electric car — reports the Estevan Mercury.
The station, which is the only public charger in the city, was recently built during the renovation of the Peavey Mart parking lot in the Estevan Shoppers’ Mall. It houses a level 2 charger, capable of providing a full charge in 6-8 hours.
Martin Blair, managing director of First Aberdeen Properties Limited (the owners of The Estevan Market Mall), said that “with the support of Peavey Mart, we have now dedicated two stalls near the entrance of the Peavey Mart for electric vehicle parking and charging. The charging unit was activated at the end of January”.
Previously, the store had a charger on the side of the building that offered free charges, but this new station provides customers with a suitable, comfortably out-of-the-way spot for a recharge.
The number of registered EVs in Saskatchewan province increased roughly 370% between April 2020 and February 2021, going from 350 vehicles to over 1650 vehicles. As of now, only 2 of these 1650 EVs are from Estevan.
Estevan-based Mark Kroeker, a board member of the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA), purchased a Tesla Model Y — the second best-selling EV in Canada for 2020 — in October last year.
He touted the EV’s incredible “520km range” in summer days and said that he’s “been really happy” with his purchase. The second EV in Estevan is a Tesla Model X.
Kroeker also talked about the growing number of superchargers in Canada. Tesla alone plans on installing over 90 superchargers in various provinces.
“I believe this summer Canadian Tire nation-wide has committed to installing chargers at all mini locations including Estevan and Weyburn. We are getting DC fast chargers, level 3 charging, which means a car like mine plugged into it can charge in 15-20 minutes”, elaborated Kroeker.
Federated Co-ops, a wholesaling, manufacturing, marketing and administrative co-operative in Western Canada, has also started installing charging stations. Kroeker believes that this is how charging stations will be introduced to the mainstream population — with grocery stores, shopping centers and coffee shops offering complimentary charging.
