Ontario EV Infrastructure Terrible

[cammisuli]

I wholeheartedly agree, especially with the Ivy stations. At the beginning of spring (2023) with a trip from London to Ottawa, the ivy chargers werent too bad. I never went below 100kwh. They were typically at the rates that were advertised.

Most recently, I forgot to charge overnight, and had to go to Toronto. I had to stop at Cambridge onroute and only managed to get 40kwh. Since they charge $22 (?!) an hour, I wasn't going to sit there and be robbed. So I went down to Electrify Canada, and got 127kwh (although, I think I just lucked out there).

Hopefully supercharger speeds will be more consistent then what we have today.

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[Shayne]

I have yet to find a high-speed charger in Ontario that comes close to it stated charge rate. Ivy is consistently the worst, 38. Kilowatts or as low as 30, Even in ideal conditions. I have yet to see anything better than 38 on Ivy.

Petro Canada advertises up to 350 kilowatt charging, which obviously my car can't achieve, but they maxed out at 45. I inquired of another user driving a Kia that theoretically could have used up to that limit, they came in with 10% battery and were charging at 28.

It seems impossible that all of these networks can be this bad. At least until I consider that they are all billing by the minute, which doesn't exactly motivate them to fix these issues. They wouldn't say it's a deliberate strategy on their part to maximize revenue, but it would work if so.

The change to per kilowatt hour billing can't come fast enough.

I have got 45 KW steady on Ivy, Circuit Electric and Flo 50 KW chargers consistently and have never really seen lower until it hits 80% and the car craps out. ?‍ Problem with yours?

 

[Pmullin7]

I have got 45 KW steady on Ivy, Circuit Electric and Flo 50 KW chargers consistently and have never really seen lower until it hits 80% and the car craps out. ?‍ Problem with yours?

I haven't had any problems using FLO, thanks for reminding me of that. That particular network has never been a problem. I also haven't had any problems once I've crossed the blue water bridge into Port Huron.

When I look at the Google reviews for some of the chargers, an example being the petro-Canada charger near Dorchester, I can see I'm far from the only one having this issue. So to me the data doesn't support that it's my car which is the common issue.

But it's a fair point and I'll bring it up with my dealer the next time I go there. I don't travel all that much so it could be a while.

 

[jdsimard2012]

I drive Montreal to London and back at least once a month via the 401. I was driving a AWD extended Premium and last August switched to a GTPE.

There is an abundance of chargers, but most are absolute crap. Avoid the En Route / Ivy chargers. Most of those either, do not work, disconnect or your are lucky to hit 50.

Shell has good chargers but at $20+ are way too expensive, but they do work!

Petro Canada is touch and go, sometimes they work well and sometimes not so much.

I've found the best chargers that always seem to hit 100+ or 125+ are the Electrify Canada chargers at Canadian Tires. Not a bad deal since they charge fast, I can run in and use the restroom and head out. Usually they are Timmy's adjacent too!

 

[Shayne]

I haven't had any problems using FLO, thanks for reminding me of that. That particular network has never been a problem. I also haven't had any problems once I've crossed the blue water bridge into Port Huron.

When I look at the Google reviews for some of the chargers, an example being the petro-Canada charger near Dorchester, I can see I'm far from the only one having this issue. So to me the data doesn't support that it's my car which is the common issue.

But it's a fair point and I'll bring it up with my dealer the next time I go there. I don't travel all that much so it could be a while.

plugshare.com is free and has check-ins (reviews from users) that tell you how chargers are doing. Worth looking into

 

[moparguy]

Ontario is miserable when it comes to EV infrastructure, matter of fact Canada is miserable, just came back last month, rental companies has evs for dirt cheap but honestly nowhere to charge, I stay between Vaughan and Nobleton, nearest Tesla charger at Markham, Electrify Canada is scarce, everything else is slow and spread, unless you charge home buying EV there is a total mistake.

 

[Rj786]

I drive frequently from Niagara Falls to Whitby, Woodbridge and Pickering and use Flo chargers which are on the Ford network and easily accessible by Fordpass. Canadian tire also has Flo chargers at most of there locations which I have used with no issues. There are two Flo chargers in the Canadian Tire gas station near my house in Niagara Falls and they do get busy on the weekend usually with a 30 minute wait.

 

[MachEMaster]

The slower the charger, the more money the company makes. BC Hydro just released their new proposed charging rates. No talk of charging per kWh from the utility company themselves.

And of course because my '22 Select AWD is supposedly "Capable" of charging at 100 kWh, I get charged at $.027 per minute. I am lucky to see 50 kWh.

 

[VirgilBoy21MME]

I actually hit 67 kW using Ivy at the South Barrie OnRoute location a couple months ago. I was (sadly) impressed, LOL. You can bet that Ivy will resist changing to charge by kilowatts rather than time, because they are ripping us off terrifically at this point with low charging rates and their pricing!!

 

[kdryden99]

Did Momtreal to Niagara last year. I used the flo charger at the Canadian Tire in Burlington and the Ivy charger at the GM dealer in Ste.Catherines. I know I stopped also in Kingston and used the Flo charger. Only the Ivy gave me some issues at the beginning but it wasn't bad. I had one handle that was charging at 34kw and the other was at 70 but since i was staying 2 minutes away from the charger it was ok. The others all worked without an issue. I believe I even used an Ivy in Kingston on the way back and it was fine.

 

[SolarAB]

Commenting on "significantly below" ... I'm wondering what your actual rate was vs. what was expected.

Typically we get 50 kW, even on chargers that claim they can run at rates of 150 kW or more. One that actually delivers the higher rates is rare. Sometimes, if there is a row of chargers, one may deliver at a higher rate while the others do not. We often find the faster speeds in the evening, so I wonder if the utility throttles the rate during peak hours.

 

[SolarAB]

I actually hit 67 kW using Ivy at the South Barrie OnRoute location a couple months ago. I was (sadly) impressed, LOL. You can bet that Ivy will resist changing to charge by kilowatts rather than time, because they are ripping us off terrifically at this point with low charging rates and their pricing!!

Delivering half the rate at the same price per minute is a great way to double your money!

 

[Shayne]

I actually hit 67 kW using Ivy at the South Barrie OnRoute location a couple months ago. I was (sadly) impressed, LOL. You can bet that Ivy will resist changing to charge by kilowatts rather than time, because they are ripping us off terrifically at this point with low charging rates and their pricing!!

Seen 49 KW briefly but no on 67. Pays them to make you sit . Then you hit 80% and it takes even more time as it drops down from your smoken 45 KW to 35. Ontario Hydro (OH) could do better. Ivy OPG / OH joint venture are the only ones that get cheap services. It appears now they are not fixing the chargers they have? They have no intent to expand anywhere from what I see. Kind of got shut down. Really expensive to buy a service from them also which makes it hard to spur private to start unless you give them 220 million CAD. ?‍ Government is not too keen right now? Appears it will grow from the bigger cities out which is going to take a while for some. Still hard to travel up here which will lose tourism. Lot easier if you do not come north and hug the border/river.

 

[VirgilBoy21MME]

Seen 49 KW briefly but no on 67. Pays them to make you sit . Then you hit 80% and it takes even more time as it drops down from your smoken 45 KW to 35. Ontario Hydro (OH) could do better. Ivy OPG / OH joint venture are the only ones that get cheap services. It appears now they are not fixing the chargers they have? They have no intent to expand anywhere from what I see. Kind of got shut down. Really expensive to buy a service from them also which makes it hard to spur private to start unless you give them 220 million CAD. ?‍ Government is not too keen right now? Appears it will grow from the bigger cities out which is going to take a while for some. Still hard to travel up here which will lose tourism. Lot easier if you do not come north and hug the border/river.

I’m surprised nobody on this thread has mentioned those ridiculous short cables!

 

[Shayne]

I’m surprised nobody on this thread has mentioned those ridiculous short cables!

Short cables on what have not had a problem to date but have only use IVY Circuit Electric and Flo to date? Offset a bit in the parking space helps. Just don't let the guy on the right out of his car from the driver side

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