Six months after launch: The Electric Circuit presents positive results

In the aftermath of the EV 2012 VÉ conference held in Montreal in October 2012, Hydro-Québec, on behalf of The Electric Circuit, presents positive results after the first six months of operation of the first public electric vehicle (EV) charging network in Canada. The Electric Circuit’s other founding partners are Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert, RONA, METRO and the Agence métropolitaine de transport.

Since the official launch of The Electric Circuit, on March 30, 2012, 17 private and institutional partners have joined:

Aéroports de Montréal
Auberge Internationale du Témiscouata
CAA-Québec
Cégep de Sherbrooke
Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke
Centre de santé et de services sociaux–Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Sherbrooke
Commission scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke
Discount Car & Truck Rentals
First Capital Realty
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Sépaq
Place des Arts
Saint-Laurent
Université de Sherbrooke
Bishop’s University
City of Montreal
City of Sherbrooke

The Electric Circuit now has over 90 stations in operation. By the end of the year, there will be 150. The greater Montréal and Québec areas, Laval, Montérégie, Estrie, the Laurentides and Lanaudière are among the regions served. The Outaouais, Bas-St-Laurent and Chaudière-Appalaches regions will be added to this list in 2013.

The network will continue to expand in order to offer broader geographic coverage and serve more EV drivers. To meet the future demand for public charging stations, Hydro-Québec has announced this week that it will be coordinating a second open request for proposals by the end of the year on behalf of the Electric Circuit.

EV owners do most of their recharging at home and at work, but the public charging infrastructure means that they can “fill up” on the road whenever they need to.

“We’ve found that close to half of Québec EV drivers have Electric Circuit cards,” said Pierre-Luc Desgagné, Senior Director – Strategic Planning at Hydro-Québec. “The network is very effective. EV owners can travel worry free, knowing there’s a top-up service available at a uniform, competitive price.”

In 2013, The Electric Circuit will look into the installation of curbside charging stations in conjunction with the city of Montréal.

So far, users of public charging stations typically plug in their vehicles for an hour and a half while they do their errands at partners’ locations. That enables them to drive another 40 km or so.

The Electric Circuit’s business model is attracting a great deal of interest from neighboring jurisdictions. In fact, discussions are in progress with Vermont and Ontario. And just this week, The Electric Circuit announced a first roll-out in the Ottawa-Gatineau region for 2013.

The Electric Circuit is a major milestone in the rollout of the plug-in charging infrastructure needed to support the arrival of rechargeable EVs in Québec.

Its Web site, www.theelectriccircuit.com, is updated as new stations are installed or commissioned.