VW’s Installing Electric Vehicle Chargers For All Across Canada

The Volkswagen Group is building a network of electric-vehicle charging stations across Canada – not only for its own vehicles, but for those from any manufacturer.

The company has formed a new company called Electrify Canada to carry out the work that will install and maintain 32 charging sites across the country. They’ll be located in major metropolitan areas and along major highways in four of the country’s most populous provinces: Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Though that leaves out six provinces and Canada‘s three northern territories, those four provinces make up over 86 percent of the country’s population. They also include the eight most populous cities in the country, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary.

“The Canadian electric vehicle market is growing, creating a great need for charging that is fast, convenient and available in key locations,” said Volkswagen Group Canada chief Daniel Weissland. “We are thrilled to be able to offer this service and to take a leadership position in providing this key EV adoption enabler to the Canadian market.”

Rather than use its own proprietary charging system, VW’s Electrify Canada network will use universal DC fast-chargers designed to work with any electric vehicles. They’ll work at 50 kW “to support today’s EVs from all automotive manufacturers,” and will even range from 150-350 kW “for the expected longer range, larger battery vehicles coming to market,” according to the announcement.

VW cites data from Navigant Research which forecasts that electric vehicle sales in Canada will grow at each year by 29 percent. By 2026, the Canadian market for electric vehicles is expected to reach 140,000 vehicles per year.