The free ride for Leduc EV owners at city-owned charging stations is about to come to an end.That’s because the city is pulling the plug on no-fee recharging at its network of fast chargers in the downtown core and local recreation facilities.Sometime later this spring, the municipality will begin charging $10 per hour at all city-owned level 3 charging stations, along with a $20 surcharge for vehicles plugged in for more than eight hours..Under the municipality’s original business plan, power at the stations is supplied by a series of rooftop solar panels that were supposed to generate the power used by the EVs and produce enough of a surplus to recover the cost of the charging equipment over 15 years.In fact, the city won design and innovation awards for its solar-powered carport concept that was supposed to be self-sufficient in terms of the electricity generated and supplied to EVs.But barely 18 months into the project, the city has found itself paying more for electricity — about $30,000 last year — than the amount it is able to recover from the panels. In order to maintain the 15-year payout schedule, council unanimously approved the surcharge..“We’ve had a lot of people come downtown to use those chargers… the consequence to that is we’re spending more on electricity than we’re able to generate with the solar panels,”City Engineer Shawn Olson.Even at $10 an hour, which is about half the going rate of $20 for a fast charge, the city would still barely break even and fail to generate any net revenue.“We’ve had a lot of people come downtown to use those chargers… the consequence to that is we’re spending more on electricity than we’re able to generate with the solar panels,” city engineering and environment director Shawn Olson told council.Leduc gained attention in 2021 for installing 10 public electric vehicle chargers — including six level 2 chargers and four level 3 chargers — in the downtown and at the local recreation centre. In less than two years the stations have provided more than 10,000 hours of vehicle charging.Level 3 chargers provide about 100 km of range for every 20 minutes of charging time compared to an hour for a 240 volt level 2 unit. By comparison, a 120 volt level one charger that would most likely be used in a home garage would take about six hours to reach the same level.In addition to the solar carport and EV charging station, in the past three years the city purchased an electric Zamboni for the Leduc Recreation Centre, a city electric vehicle and two John Deere electric gators. It’s not clear how many people actually use the chargers but the city estimates there are 15 to 20 registered EVs in Leduc. According to Alberta government statistics there were barely 9,000 registered EVs in all of Alberta last year.The carport and chargers cost about $220,000 split between the city which ponied up $150,000 while the remaining $70,000 came from Natural Resources Canada. In the UCP budget, the government said it would introduce a $200 registration fee for EVs later this year.
