Flo electric vehicle charger (Courtesy: Colton Mckee)

By Jessie Weisner

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS

Number of electric vehicle charging stations increasing in Medicine Hat

Sep 20, 2019 | 4:24 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations have been popping up around Medicine Hat, with at least nine in operation right now.

Most Medicine Hat residents own gas powered vehicles, so as a result, charging stations are often vacant. However, the City of Medicine Hat says they have a good reason for getting involved in a project to build two EV chargers.

All of the current charging stations are privately owned, but the City recently got involved in the ‘Prairies to Peaks’ project, joining other City’s like Lethbridge, Canmore and Calgary.

The project aims to install an EV charging network across Southern Alberta. 20 charging stations will be built.

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“EV chargers are getting more and more common, EV vehicles are getting more common,” says Grayson Mauch, general manager of utility distribution systems with the City of Medicine Hat. “There isn’t a significant amount of retailers here in Medicine Hat, but it is growing significantly every single year.”

The City has contracted the third part vendor Flo to install a level two charger, and a level three fast charger.

Mauch says the City is accommodating the quickly growing industry.

“The City of Medicine Hat is very interested in tourism, EV is an emerging technology and it’s growing much more every single year.”

He says although the charging stations may not be used very frequently now, having the infrastructure is important to encourage electric vehicle owners to come through Medicine Hat.

“The vast majority of EV stations are along highway corridors, the peaks to prairies project is meant to be the same thing. It’s close to amenities and close to the highway so it tries to eliminate that range anxiety that some EV owners might have.”

The City hasn’t decided on a location for the stations yet, but they’re expected to be in operation sometime next Spring.