Tag: electric vehicles

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EV chargers are coming to Ontario’s ONroute rest stops by next summer

Electric vehicle (EV) charger infrastructure continues to expand across Canada.

According to Energy Minister Todd Smith and Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, EV chargers are coming to most ONroute rest stops in Ontario by next summer. Each location will feature two chargers with busier ONroutes offering more stations.

Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation’s EV charging network will install the pay-per-use chargers that are part of a pre-existing charging network called Ivy. The project does not involve direct funding from the provincial government. Instead, Natural Resources Canada gave a $3.45 million loan to Ivy to continue the project, amounting to 30 percent of the total cost of adding the chargers to ONroute locations.

Shortly after being elected in 2018, Ontario Premiere Doug Ford stopped the provincial government’s plans to build an EV charging network and cancelled Ontario’s electric vehicle rebate program.

With nearly every legacy car manufacturer shifting its focus to EV production, electric vehicles are poised to become far more mainstream over the next few years. With this in mind, it makes sense for the province to start taking electric vehicle charging more seriously.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Via: CP24

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Nissan investing $17.6 billion in EV development

Nissan is moving forward with its plan to shift to manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) with a new five-year strategy and a $17.6 billion USD (roughly $22 billion  CAD) investment in the space.

The legacy car marker says it aims to release 15 new EVs by 2030, resulting in half of the automaker’s lineup being electric. On top of that, Nissan has a plan to develop another eight EVs to continue to electrify its fleet into the future. TechCrunch reports that Nissan previously claimed it wanted every new vehicle it manufacturers by 2030 to be electric.

Nissan also outlined plans to build a solid-state battery pilot plant in Yokohama, Japan as early as 2024. Further, the company hopes to release a new generation of batteries that can charge EVs much faster by 2028.

Of course, Nissan is also looking to push its pro-pilot assist tech to more vehicles by 2026, and it also mentions that it’s working on the next-generation of its driver assistance tech that uses LIDAR for a 2030 release.

Image credit: Nissan 

Source: TechCrunch

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Tesla Model 3 no longer qualifies for $5,000 Federal rebate

The Government of Canada has updated its list of eligible vehicles for the $5,000 federal electric vehicle (EV) buying incentive, and it’s removed the Tesla Model 3.

This comes as Tesla raises the price of the Model 3 to $59,990. However, the company has also increased the range of this trim to 430km. Previously when the vehicle was priced cheaper to tie in with the incentive, the range was artificially locked down to 150km. This made this version of the Model 3 not really worth buying and was just a sneaky way to get the government discount on the longer-range Models.

It appears that Tesla no longer cares about those models receiving the discount since the Model 3 has also been removed from the rebate list in British Columbia. The only two provinces that still offer discounts on the pricey sedan are Newfoundland and Quebec. These provinces offer $2,500 and $8,000 rebates, respectively.

Since the EV maker’s vehicles are positioned as more upscale vehicles, I’m not disappointed by this move given most Tesla buyers are well off financially anyways. Further, with the wave of lower-cost EVs that are about to hit the market over the next two years, it makes more sense for Tesla to be competitive with range over price.

Source: Tesla North 

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Chip shortage leaves some Tesla vehicles without USB ports

A handful of Tesla owners who recently received a new vehicle from the company are reporting that the rear console is missing the standard two USB-C ports.

This issue began with models that shipped on November 11th or later, according to Electrek. Tesla says that it should be able to finally install them in December. However, since the electric vehicle (EV) maker is often bad at timing, I’d expect it might take a little longer than a month for it to restock parts.

Alongside the missing USB ports in the back, other users are reporting that their wireless chargers don’t work.

The report alleges that these missing ports and disabled chargers all link back to the global chip shortage. However, this is the first I’ve heard of the shortage affecting a component as simple as USB-C ports.

Image credit: Reddit (CalligrapherNo4617)

Source: Electrek 

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Tesla is launching Starlink satellite internet dishes at Supercharger locations

Tesla owners could soon be able to access Starlink satellite internet while they charge their electric vehicle (EV).

According to Electrek, several Tesla owners have spotted Starlink satellites at Supercharger stations. That said, it’s unclear how many satellites Tesla/Starlink plans to role out, with most of the reports of sitings so far coming from Florida.

Tesla, as expected, hasn’t commented on the sighting as the company reportedly doesn’t have a PR team anymore.

While it’s assumed that Tesla owners will likely be able to access the Starlink internet connection at these Superchargers — allowing them to do anything from watching movies to playing video games — the technology could also be used for processing payment and charger status information in remote areas. Since these chargers likely use a form of 4G now, switching to starlink would allow them to be more vertically integrated with Tesla’s other tech.

There’s also a possibility that the Starlink satellites could be linked to Tesla’s possible plans to open its Supercharger network to other electric vehicles in the future. For example, Tesla recently revealed that it now allows all electric vehicles to use its chargers in the Netherlands.

If you’ve encountered a Starlink satellite at a Tesla Super Charger location in Canada, let us know in the comments.

Source: Electrek

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Shell Canada to receive $3.95 million from federal government to create EV charging network

Shell Canada has revealed that it received $3.95 million in funding from the Canadian federal government to build 79 electric vehicles (EV) fast-charging stations across five Canadian provinces.

This initiative includes 36 EV chargers in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan, according to the NRCan’s EV and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative, as first reported by Electric Autonomy.

Electric Autonomy says that it’s unclear if the locations included in the report feature all of Shell’s planned EV charging stations or if they only relate to the chargers constructed with government funding.

In total, Shell plans to build roughly 500,000 electric vehicle chargers across North America by 2025. The report also mentions that the federal government will give $300,000 in funding to convenience store 7-Eleven to build 12 charging stations at six of its locations in British Columbia.

Source: Electric Autonomy, NRcan 

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Tesla begins upgrading its older EVs with self-driving hardware

Tesla finally has to put its money where its mouth is and has upgraded some of the cars it sold as ‘Full Self-driving’ capable but actually aren’t.

The company began selling cars that were Full Self-driving capable back in 2016, even though at that point, the electric vehicle (EV) maker wasn’t even close to developing the software needed to make it run. Still, Telsa sold the option for years, and now it needs to recall some of those cars to add more cameras and robust computers to bring them up to par with modern Tesla vehicles.

Now, some owners are reporting receiving messages like the one below, according to Electrek:

“As an owner with Full Self-Driving Capability and early production cameras (your VIN), you are eligible for complimentary Autopilot Camera Upgrade, Camera replacements are required to access a continuously expanding suite of Full Self-Driving Capability features.

To arrange your complimentary camera replacements, schedule a new appointment from the Service menu in your Tesla App, Select’ ‘Schedule Servic’>” Upgrades & Accessories’>” Autopilot Camer””

We still don’t know how many vehicles this message is going out to, but it’s nice to see Tesla is at least making an effort to remedy its false promises from years past.

Source: Electrek

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Tesla adds denser battery and more powerful motors into Model X

A few months ago, Tesla showed off a refreshed Model S and Model X. While the company was vague on what upgrades users could expect, most of the company’s spotlight seemed turned towards the fact that there it features a new yoke steering device and a gaming PC’s worth of power-packed inside.

Now, new EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) documents are out that show off powertrain upgrades, slight battery density improvements and the more powerful AC permanent magnet motors in the long-range trim, according to Electrek. While these changes are interesting, they don’t change the max range of the car.

The new battery features a density of 182.2 wh/kg instead of 165 wh/kg that was offered before. This extra density has also allowed Tesla to bring the overall energy capacity of the battery down to 100 kWh instead of 103 kWh. This has resulted in the car being 200lbs lighter which also helps offset the slightly smaller battery.

The company is also looking to add cloud syncing to your Tesla profile. This could mean that your map’s favourites, seat settings and other features tailored to each driver may be able to follow them from car to car. This will be especially useful to anyone that owns more than one.

This feature was first mentioned by Elon Musk on Twitter in 2017.

Source: Electrek, Engadget

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Hyundai releases Canadian pricing for anticipated Ioniq 5 electric vehicle

After months of rumours, Hyundai has finally released Canadian pricing for its 2022 Ioniq 5 crossover electric vehicle (EV).

Hyundai says that the first Ioniq 5 cars will start arriving in its showrooms in December, with initial vehicles going to the 2,000 Canadians that have pre-ordered the car.

Below is Canadian pricing for the Ioniq 5:

Essential (354km range) — $44,999
Preferred (354km range) — $46,999
Preferred Long Range (489km range) — $51,999
Preferred AWD Long Range (415km range) — $54,999
Preferred AWD LR  w/Ultimate Package (400km) — $59,999

The base model Ioniq 5 with a 58kWh battery starting at $44,999 in Canada is a very competitive price point in the EV space, especially considering Hyundai’s Kona EV starts at $38,000 and Tesla’s reasonably capable Model 3 offering starts at $56,000.

It’s also worth noting that in Quebec, the Ioniq 5 qualifies for an $8,000 incentive from the provincial government and a $5,000 rebate from the federal government. On the other hand, British Columbia buyers can get $5,000 off from Ottawa and $3,000 from the provincial government. All provinces and territories qualify for the $5,000 federal rebate and some other provinces, particularly the Atlantic islands, also offer EV rebates.

While the Ioniq 5 looks like a hatchback, it’s primarily being marketed by Hyundai as a small utility vehicle thanks to its large wheelbase and expansive interior.

The inside of the car features a standard dashboard and two large screens. In terms of fast charging, the Ioniq 5 can be plugged into a 350Kw fast charger to charge its battery from 10 percent to 80 percent in just 18 minutes.

There’s a significant amount of hype surrounding the Ioniq 5, with many praising its long-range, charging speeds and unique throwback design.

Source: Hyundai Image credit: Hyundai

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Tesla might finally open its charging infrastructure to other EV makers

Tesla has started selling a home charger with a J1772 connector instead of the standard proprietary Tesla plug.

Since this announcement follows news that Tesla will allow all electric vehicles (EVs) to use its chargers in the Netherlands, it looks like the automaker might be opening up its walled garden. While the new J1772 connector isn’t as prevalent in Canada as CSS charging ports, it’s exciting to see Tesla take other EVs seriously.

The home charger isn’t that significant of a deal, of course, since you can buy at-home J1772 connectors from various companies. Still, the fact that Tesla is now selling one could mean that the company might consider offering a second port on its cars like the Porsche Taycan, or that it could be just looking to make more revenue off of non-Tesla EV owners.

The more exciting Tesla charger news is that the company is pilot-testing allowing other EVs to use its fast chargers in the Netherlands. So far, this test only applies to 10 chargers, and it costs non-tesla cars more to use those locations. This has been a long time coming in Europe since Tesla vehicles sold there require a CSS charger and not the proprietary Tesla plug used in North America.

This means that for years EV drivers in Europe could physically plug their cars into Tesla stations, but the station would refuse to top them up. With this new pilot project, regular EV owners can download and initiate a charge at one of ten select stations across the Netherlands.

Overall, Tesla’s Supercharger network is likely the most compelling reason to buy a Tesla over any other EV. With that mind, as countries around the world transition to electric vehicles, I wouldn’t be surprised if more governments forced Tesla to allow all cars to use its charging stations.

source: Electreck, (1)