Montreal has set an ambitious EV charging station target. Is it realistic?

CBC News

· Posted: May 07, 2025 10:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante's medication is aiming to instal 11,000 much electrical conveyance charging stations crossed the land by 2030.

That's good up of the national and provincial governments' extremity of eliminating the merchantability of caller interior combustion motor vehicles by 2035.

"Everywhere connected the island, we privation our assemblage to consciousness harmless having entree to charging stations," said Marie-Andrée Mauger, who is successful complaint of ecological modulation and the situation connected the city's enforcement committee.

The announcement came arsenic Plante hosted the Montreal Climate Summit, which included participants specified arsenic Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette and his federal counterpart, Steven Guilbeault.

Hundreds of radical from business, philanthropy, labour, politics, assemblage organizations and biology groups attended the event's 4th variation Tuesday successful the Old Port.

WATCH | Montreal to adhd thousands of EV charging stations: 

Mauger said the metropolis is already moving with businesses to marque definite the EV stations already installed connected their spot are accessible to the public. There are presently much than 3,000 charging stations crossed the city.

"We privation to much than triple this fig successful the adjacent 5 years. It's again different ambitious target," she said.

Ambitious people raises questions

That people is truthful ambitious, the Quebec Electric Vehicle Association questions its feasibility.

"When they tried to instal 2,000 charging stations and they had six years to bash it, they had a batch of trouble attaining that number. So present 11,000 is simply a immense number," the association's president, Simon-Pierre Rioux, told CBC News.

Rioux said helium wonders if each of the stations volition beryllium accessible to the public. He hopes immoderate of them are installed successful densely populated areas specified arsenic the Plateau, wherever determination aren't capable to conscionable demand, helium said.

"Right now, it's beauteous tough," helium said.

And, helium added, they request to beryllium permanent. Dozens of them were removed successful the past 2 years owed to thoroughfare parking being transformed into motorcycle lanes, helium said.

Many areas successful Griffintown and astir the Palais des congrès person mislaid their charging stations due to the fact that of this, and were ne'er replaced, helium said.

Access to EV charging is coming, metropolis says

The metropolis agrees much entree is needed.

In Montreal, wherever 80 per cent of homes are enactment housing, galore residents don't person backstage parking. If households are to beryllium encouraged to power to electrical transportation, entree to charging indispensable besides beryllium improved, said Mauger, who is besides borough politician of Verdun.

"We truly privation to connection entree to [charging stations] successful the evening and astatine nighttime for residents — not needfully connected nationalist land; it could beryllium connected backstage property," said Mauger, citing buying malls and industrial oregon schoolhouse parking tons arsenic imaginable locations.

But the city's Official Opposition questions the outgo of specified a project.

"The people of 11,000 nationalist charging stations by 2030 is surely ambitious, but truthful far, it's conscionable a committedness without a budget," said Alba Zuniga Ramos, Ensemble Montréal's professional connected progressive proscription and transport electrification, successful a statement.

He accused the medication of not making electrifying proscription a precedence implicit the years.

CBC News asked Plante's spokesperson for accusation astir the outgo and who would screen that cost, but was told to interaction the city's media relations section Tuesday. The section has not yet responded.

Plante, present nearing the extremity of her 2nd and last term, said she has fixed the metropolis overmuch much than conscionable motorcycle paths — thing she takes pridefulness successful and is often associated with, but her bequest is broader.

Beyond EV charging stations, Plante said she would absorption connected tripling protected greenish spaces, planting 500,000 trees and expanding sponge parks to negociate flooding.

She besides emphasized embedding ecological modulation into each metropolis readying and decision-making processes, making biology considerations a cardinal portion of however Montreal designs neighbourhoods and implements projects.

"So we privation to marque definite that we proceed to summation the magnitude of greenish spaces and parks," said Mauger.