Electric vehicle drivers in Esquimalt have a new place to power up, with BC Hydro opening a fast-charging site that can serve up to six vehicles at once. The new station is at the Archie Browning Sports Centre on Esquimalt Road and has three 180-kilowatt chargers. The site uses power sharing technology, allowing each charger to serve two vehicles at once. The available power is divided between the vehicles when both are plugged in. The chargers offer CCS, CHAdeMO and NACS connections and cost 39.69 cents per kilowatt hour before tax. An idle fee of 40 cents per minute kicks in five minutes after a vehicle stops charging. The Esquimalt station is part of BC Hydro’s broader plan to expand public EV charging as more British Columbians switch to electric vehicles. The utility says it plans to have 3,500 EV charging ports across B.C. by 2035 and is looking for more places to put them. BC Hydro says it considers factors such as EV use, demand at existing stations, proximity to major travel routes, available electricity and the potential for future expansion when deciding where to build new sites. Property owners can propose locations for a BC Hydro charging site. Proposed sites must generally be publicly accessible and have enough space for multiple EV charging stalls, with other factors including safety and accessibility. For urban locations, BC Hydro says it generally looks for space for at least eight charging stalls, although alternate configurations can be considered. The utility says hosting a charging site can bring more visitors to a property while adding another stop to B.C.’s growing public EV charging network.
