Ashley Champion of Timmins and her husband Paul love their electric car. They own a 2024 Tesla and say charging station availability is not a major issue. A Canadian Automobile Association survey of over 16,000 owners finds that despite the occasional problem finding charging stations, 70% of Canadian owners say their next car will be electric, too.
Ashley says she gets 500 or more kilometres per charge, depending on how aggressively she drives, and unforeseen obstacles like weather and accidents.
“For the most part in the summertime,” she notes, “I can actually make it to North Bay with 20-25% left per battery.”
Ashley drives the car to North Bay frequently, to her family’s nursery and garden business.
Even in minus-25 temperatures, she says the car tells her it can complete the trip. Still, she stops in New Liskeard or Temagami for a recharge, just to be sure.
The Champions have a charger at home. Ashley says it delivers about ten kilowatts an hour.
“But most of the other chargers that you would stop at are 50 kilowatts per hour. So at home, if I’m say at 50% battery and I want to make it to 100, sometimes it’s only a couple hours.”
That home fill-up costs about $10.00.
Here is the audio of our interview:
