Parkland Corporation has launched their electric vehicle (EV) charging network, opening their first three locations in British Columbia this month. The EV chargers are located at On The Run convenience stores at Chevron gas stations, and will eventually expand into Alberta with 25 stations planned.
The first charging station opened earlier this month in Sidney (2260 Beacon Ave), just north of Victoria. That was followed by the second location opening in the interior of the province in Penticton (697 Eckhardt Ave W) on October 20 and their third station opening in Victoria (3939 Gordon Head Rd) last week.
Each station features battery-integrated ultra-fast EV chargers from FreeWire, offering both CHAdeMO (100kW) and CCS connectors (150kW). With integrated battery storage Parkland will be able to lower their peak demand charges by drawing and storing electricity from the grid during off-peak times.
To celebrate the opening of the network, plugging in and charging your EV is free for a limited time. To take advantage you have to download the Journie Rewards app (iOS App Store, Google Play Store) and become a Journie member (free to join).
In an interview with Drive Tesla, Parkland’s VP of Electric Vehicle Charging Scott Sharabura said when the promotion ends, the company will implement a per kWh billing system, instead of billing EV owners by the length of time they are plugged in.
Sharabura could not provide us with details on what those rates will be as he tells us they are still finalizing them.
The network will eventually expand into Alberta, with Parkland planning 25 stations and 100 connectors about 100km to 150km apart on major highways in places like Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Whistler, Abbotsford, Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops, Revelstoke and Calgary.
Construction is already underway on several of these, with Parkland planning to complete the 25 previously announced locations by early next year.
