An electric vehicle charger plugged into an electric vehicle in an Ottawa, Ont. parking garage on April 12, 2022.Spencer Colby/The Globe and Mail
When it comes to pricing for Level 3 DC fast charging in Ontario, prices vary significantly. To dispense 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity, it can cost anywhere from $12 to $35 before tax, and that’s just at the 18 stations we surveyed.
Some of the bigger names, such as Electrify Canada and Petro-Canada, offer consistent pricing across the country, so you’ll always know exactly how much it’s going to cost for a charge, but other stations, such as those operated by Flo, are privately owned and prices are set by the site hosts.
There is no signage at charging stations. The best way to find current pricing and whether it’s time or energy-based is through an app on your phone of which there are many or through your car’s infotainment screen. Some charging stations display the current price on the main screen of the charger, but only when you arrive and activate it, which is also done through an app in many cases.
In February 2023, Measurement Canada enacted a policy change that allowed charging station companies and owners to bill customers by the amount of energy dispensed or the kilowatt-hour. Previously, only timed billing was possible, which could fluctuate based on a variety of factors including the type of vehicle, weather conditions and the battery’s state-of-charge. Energy-based billing is a more transparent and fairer way of charging for electricity because you’re billed only for what’s dispensed, just like filling up with gas.
Since the policy change, many stations have implemented energy-based billing, but there doesn’t seem to be a consistent pricing strategy or standard by which to bill customers for fast charging an EV. As such, prices vary from station to station, sometimes dramatically so.
We looked at some popular stations across Southern Ontario and calculated what it would cost to dispense 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity. We compared stations that use the new energy-based billing to stations that still use timed billing. To keep things simple, we assumed a consistent charging speed of 100 kilowatts, which would only be a factor for the time-based billing. At a rate of 100 kilowatts, it takes about 30 minutes to dispense 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity.
At the cheapest station, we calculated it would cost $13.56 after tax for 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity. At the most expensive station, it would cost a total of $39.55.
In ideal conditions, that amount of energy could take you up to 306 kilometres in a Tesla Model Y Long Range, up to 252 kilometres in a Toyota BZ4X and 136 kilometres in the gargantuan Hummer EV pickup.