Photo: Tesla | Edited
It might sound surprising, but EV owners using DC Fast-Charging stations in Canada are charged per the time spent charging. Since not all EVs are created equal, people with slower-charging EVs pay more to charge. After two years of back and forth, Measurement Canada finally agreed to let Level 3 charging providers bill customers based on the energy they use.
Canadian regulations mandate charging EV owners per-minute rates when charging at a fast-charging station. This has led to awkward situations since owners of older EVs, like the first-generation Nissan Leaf, would pay much more than those whose cars accept a higher charging power. It takes a lot more time to charge the battery when your EV can only charge at 50 kW, as opposed to 250 kW or even more in the case of the 800-volt EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Kia EV6.
Not only that, but the weather also plays a role, and since we're talking about Canada, low temperatures can jack up the charging bills to insane levels. That's because the battery charges slower when it's cold. Canadians have requested more equitable billing for years, with Measurement Canada promising a solution two years ago.
To make things equitable, Tesla has charged different per-minute rates in its Canadian Supercharger network depending on the power drawn from the station. This didn't work either, as Tesla owners in Canada saw their Supercharger costs tripling after the new four-tier billing system was introduced in March 2022. Tesla owners have written to Elon Musk and asked for a solution because paying for a charge more than it takes to fill up a gas tank was not an incentive to buy an electric vehicle.
As he has done on countless other occasions, Musk read the complaints and promised to look into the issue. Soon enough, he blamed the per-minute billing system in Canada and pledged to work with local regulators to change it. That was on March 30, 2022, and nothing seemed to change until now. The good news is that Measurement Canada has finally approved all fast-charging providers to bill customers per the amount of electricity used. We're fairly certain Tesla had a role, considering it worked closely with Measurement Canada to solve this issue.
The new system is much fairer for EV owners, ensuring that everyone pays for what they use. The measure was enacted on February 20, but service providers must adjust their billing systems before it goes live nationwide. The change should be straightforward for Tesla, considering that the billing system is not integrated into the Supercharger but into the car. The switch would likely require a simple software update to implement the new system.
Other charging networks that integrate the billing systems into the charging stalls might not be that lucky. In that case, the stations might require hardware changes, like adding an energy meter to every stall. We'll see how this pans out, but we expect the new system to help some EV owners in Canada lower their fast-charging bills.
Not only that, but the weather also plays a role, and since we're talking about Canada, low temperatures can jack up the charging bills to insane levels. That's because the battery charges slower when it's cold. Canadians have requested more equitable billing for years, with Measurement Canada promising a solution two years ago.
To make things equitable, Tesla has charged different per-minute rates in its Canadian Supercharger network depending on the power drawn from the station. This didn't work either, as Tesla owners in Canada saw their Supercharger costs tripling after the new four-tier billing system was introduced in March 2022. Tesla owners have written to Elon Musk and asked for a solution because paying for a charge more than it takes to fill up a gas tank was not an incentive to buy an electric vehicle.
As he has done on countless other occasions, Musk read the complaints and promised to look into the issue. Soon enough, he blamed the per-minute billing system in Canada and pledged to work with local regulators to change it. That was on March 30, 2022, and nothing seemed to change until now. The good news is that Measurement Canada has finally approved all fast-charging providers to bill customers per the amount of electricity used. We're fairly certain Tesla had a role, considering it worked closely with Measurement Canada to solve this issue.
The new system is much fairer for EV owners, ensuring that everyone pays for what they use. The measure was enacted on February 20, but service providers must adjust their billing systems before it goes live nationwide. The change should be straightforward for Tesla, considering that the billing system is not integrated into the Supercharger but into the car. The switch would likely require a simple software update to implement the new system.
Other charging networks that integrate the billing systems into the charging stalls might not be that lucky. In that case, the stations might require hardware changes, like adding an energy meter to every stall. We'll see how this pans out, but we expect the new system to help some EV owners in Canada lower their fast-charging bills.
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