New electric vehicle charging stations in North Bay

Four electric vehicle charging stations are available at Community Energy Park outside Memorial Gardens in North Bay.

North Bay Hydro president and CEO Matt Payne said it’s a sign of the time and the changing auto industry.

“I think it’s the direction the country and the province want to go with enabling EV vehicles,” Payne said.

“It’s helping people that come through North Bay and people who live with North Bay charge up their vehicles and that’s what it’s all about.”

He said the region faces some challenges when it comes to electric vehicles, including the climate and the distance between charging stations can be issues.

“Northern Ontario has its unique challenges with EV because of the distance apart of the centres in the north,” Payne said.

“We’ve had 170 unique visitors to the park already, which is about 245 different charges and 6,000 kilowatts hours used. So we’re seeing usage and it’s actually ahead of what we thought it would be.”

Funding for the charging spots came from the federal government.

“This isn’t something we have a choice in, it’s something we have to go towards,” said Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota.

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“Some people ask why is it taking so long -- well it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s certainly going to be a challenge in northern Ontario but we’re seeing battery changes happening all the time so I’m sure we will be able to overcome the challenges.”