Electric-vehicle (EV) chargers have been short-circuited in downtown Barrie.
Black bags cover two of the three EV chargers in the Barrie Public Library parking lot, while cut wires are showing on one of six chargers in the Heritage Park lot.
“There are three City of Barrie EV chargers that are currently damaged,” said Rick Pews, Barrie’s director of corporate facilities. “They will be replaced with Clipper Creek (generic) chargers when they arrive, likely within a couple weeks.
“The Clipper Creek chargers cost $622 whereas replacement Tesla chargers, if available, would cost about $800," he added.
Barrie resident Erich Jacoby-Hawkins drives an EV, although he doesn’t rely on these particular chargers. He mostly charges at home with a Level 2 charger and uses a Level 3 (DC) at highway rest stops on long trips.
“So it doesn't affect me except that now I worry about our home charger and someone stealing it, as has happened in some other Canadian cities,” he said. “However, if I go to another city for the day I do rely on chargers like this, so these chargers would be important for tourism.
“They are also useful for people who can't charge at home, such as if their apartment building doesn't allow installation so they charge at work during the day,” Jacoby-Hawkins said. “Having expected chargers unavailable can put a real wrench in your plans. I’ve had that happen in other cities when the charger I was expecting to use was out of order for some reason or other, so I had to find one much farther from where I was spending my time in that city.”
Jennett Mays, a communications co-ordinator with Barrie police, said there’s a report of EV chargers damaged at Barrie Public Library from mid-July.
“It’s noted as a mischief, with suspects unknown at this time,” she said. “As for why it was done, I couldn’t speculate on the reasoning.”
Mays said she did not see a similar report for Heritage Park.
The Level 2 charging stations take three to four hours to charge most vehicles, depending on level of charge when started. The electrical cost is paid by the city. It is anticipated that costs will be very low initially, but as use becomes more significant, the city says it intends to charge for the use of the charging stations.
The city arranged with Tesla Canada to install 54 EV charge stations at various locations in downtown Barrie, at no cost to city residents — although regular parking rates apply. The city owns and operates the chargers.
Tesla worked with the city to install both Tesla-branded charge stations, that are only compatible with Tesla vehicles, and universal stations that are compatible with all makes of plug-in EVs.
And the city, alongside Alectra Utilities, received funding to install an additional eight charging stations at four of the city’s community/recreation centres through the Natural Resource Canada’s Zero Emissions Infrastructure Program.
The city also has EV chargers at Collier Street Parkade, Barrie Marina, Allandale Recreation Centre, East Bayfield Community Centre, Peggy Hill Team Community Centre and Sadlon Arena.
Canada’s Liberal government has mandated that battery-operated passenger cars must make up one-fifth of all new vehicle sales by 2026, growing each year until it hits three-fifths by 2030, and all vehicles by 2035.
The most recent statistics show that in 2023 EVs made up almost 11 per cent of new vehicle registrations, the first time that figure was more than 10 per cent nationally.
EVs accounted for one in four new vehicles sold in Europe in 2023. Europe has 11 different electric vehicle options that cost less than $45,000. In Canada, there were just two, and electric vehicle sales were 10.8 per cent last year.
— With files by The Canadian Press
