Tesla and other electric vehicle (EV) owners in Canada will soon be billed at charging stations by the amount of electricity they put in their car, and not based on the amount of time they are plugged in. Measurement Canada has finally given approval this week for all Level 3 charging providers to bill customers per kWh, more than two years after the government first began the process to make the switch.
President Benoit Desforges, acting president of Measurement Canada made the announcement on the federal government website, saying “after taking into account that the integrity and accuracy of electricity meters must be maintained and having determined that this dispensation is in the public interest, I hereby grant permission to owners of Level 3+ electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to put those meters into service without verification and sealing.”
This means all Level 3+ EVSE stations that are already in use across Canada can now bill customers for the amount of electricity used during a charging session. This is a much fairer billing system as not all EVs are created equal. Some can charge up at to 250kW, like Teslas, meaning a quicker and shorter charging session, compared to older EVs like the Nissan Leaf which can max out as low as 50kW, translating into a longer time plugged in. There are also other reasons that impact the duration of a charging session, like the weather.
With the approval we expect to see Tesla update their pricing in Canada very soon, possibly before the end of the month. From what we have been told Tesla’s policy team in Canada has been working very closely with Measurement Canada over the past two plus years to get to this point, so it would not be surprising to see them move quickly and switch to per-kWh billing in the next week or two.
The change will be easy for Tesla as program requirements allow for them to bill owners through their existing plug-and-charge infrastructure and the in-car display, meaning it will be a simple software change and the company won’t have to add credit card readers, displays, or any other devices necessary to bill owners.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on Tesla’s pricing structure and let you know as soon as per kWh billing is live across Canada. If you like technical details, you can read the full requirements here.
