U.S. And Canada Announce EV Corridor Between Kalamazoo And Quebec City
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Officials from the U.S. and Canada recently announced plans to build a new EV charging corridor that will stretch 900 miles between Kalamazoo in Michigan to Quebec City in Quebec, Canada. The EV charging corridor is the first of its kind between the U.S. and Canada, and will include electric vehicle charging stations placed every 50 miles. A timeline for construction of the new corridor was not revealed.
The announcement was made Tuesday at the Port of Detroit, located along the Detroit River near the U.S.-Canadian border. The announcement was attended by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra.
“I think it’s fitting that this first U.S.-Canada EV corridor runs through both Detroit and Windsor, two of the world’s great auto manufacturing centers,” Secretary Buttigieg said during the announcement. Governor Whitmer added that the new EV corridor will provide “abundant charging options.”
Last year, plans were announced to build an EV charging circuit running 1,100 miles along the coast of Lake Michigan. The new circuit will incorporate existing EV charging infrastructure and serve popular tourist areas and attractions, including lighthouses, parks, and local businesses. Funding for the new charging infrastructure will be sourced from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Program, with initial costs billed at $1.25 million.
Meanwhile, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed into law by President Biden in 2021, includes $7.5 billion in federal funding to support the creation of a national network of new EV chargers, with 500,000 new charging stations set to be built.
“With the resources headed our way from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the bold investments Michigan automakers are making right here in Michigan, we will build and lead the future of mobility,” Governor Whitmer said during announcement of the U.S-Canada EV corridor.
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This is good and a nice start. When you think about it, we have gas stations on about every corner in cities and seldom will you go more than 30 to 40 miles on the open road without gas being offered. In cases where there won’t be any stations for maybe the next 50+ miles, there’s always signs letting you know to fill up now before it’s too late.
In the not so distant future, maybe we will have nearly as many public EV fill up stations as we have gas stations. And maybe, just like they are doing in Sweden now, we may have interstate highways with built in charging so you could drive without ever stopping for fill up. Just to un-fill (bathroom breaks). haha.
Don’t really need as many dedicated EV stations as gas stations. EV charging can happen anywhere there’s a plug. And for the most part people will charge at home. Yes, I know people live in apartments and other multi-unit dwellings, but even those are going to get charging infrastructure, eventually.
But I agree this is really cool, and I like that MI is having the forethought to put charging around the coast of the lakes to give access for tourism. “Pure Michigan” and “Yes! To Michigan!”
rEVolutionary: Totally agree. I can’t think of anything nicer than how I can pull into my garage, plug in and let the car’s system start charging at a time so it’s finished by 8am when I’m ready to go. But I think in order for the masses to accept EV’s, it will take an infrastructure closer to the current gas stations.
I would venture to estimate that at least 50% of drivers do not have the ability to drive into a garage and charge their EV overnight. Even the ones who can charge overnight in their garage can they charge both spouse’s vehicles simultaneously? What kind of power set would that take or will they be limited to charging one vehicle at a time?
boomer59: I would suggest that almost nobody takes both ICE vehicles to the gas station at the same time. Why would you need to charge both EV’s at the same time? Let’s say that the average EV has about 250 miles of range at this time. If a home has two EV’s both with that same 250 range and the average person drives about 30 miles per day, wouldn’t it be logical to charge one car overnight on one day and then choose another day/night to charge the other one? Again, how often do you (or does anyone) take both vehicles to the gas station at the same time?
It’s an interesting question for sure. Can’t say I’ve seen data on percentage of households with potential easy access to a plug.
In the US, about 2/3 of households are detached, single family homes. Last data I could find. IIRC. And a large majority of US households have 2 or more cars.
and I get what you mean about “pulling into a garage to charge”. But you don’t really need a garage. Just a dedicated parking spot within 20ft or so of an outlet. One of our EVs we charge in the driveway, and the other gets to be inside the garage, for example.
As for two at a time, There are chargers that can do power splitting / power sharing. Or you can set the max amps to what your system can handle. So both EVs get 20A each instead of 40A for example. And that’s still plenty to fully charge overnight for most EVs.
The IRA is also offering rebates and tax credits for people to upgrade their electric panels.
This sounds nice but how many vehicles can charge at the same time at one of these stations? Most gas stations can accommodate 2-10 cars at once for a 5-10 minute stop. If an EV needs 30-60 minutes then they would need 5-6 times more chargers that gas pumps to accommodate the same number of vehicles.
It’s a fair point to consider. But again, not going to need as many of those 30-60 minute stops as you have stops for gas. As those would be mostly for long trips.
And a lot of current EVs are getting down to 80% charge in 20min or so, and it’s improving with battery tech advances.
Also, Since you don’t need to worry about toxic materials and fuel spills, an EV charging station or stall can be put almost anywhere. Can’t imagine having a gas station right on public beach parking lot, for example. (Ok, yes. Marinas and boat launches sometimes have fuel stations for boats, but marine gas is expensive for a reason).