Parkland to double initial EV charging plan to 50 locations

Dive Brief:

Canadian fuel and convenience-store operator Parkland announced it will build electric vehicle (EV) chargers at 50 On the Run c-stores throughout British Columbia and into Alberta, according to a Friday announcement.
This will double Parkland’s initial (EV) charging plan, which was to build charging stations at 25 locations in the region. Several of its first wave of charging stations are already operational, and Parkland expects the first 25 to be complete by the end of the year, with the new half to be ready in early 2024.
In Canada, Parkland’s EV charging program is directly competing with that of Circle K, which expects to have charging at 200 North American sites by the end of 2024. According to its website, Circle K has not rolled out EV charging near British Columbia yet.

Dive Insight:

Parkland’s EV charging network will nearly triple the amount of ultra-fast EV charging locations currently available in Metro Vancouver.

"British Columbia leads the way in North American EV adoption, making the province a natural starting point for our ultra-fast charging network," Darren Smart, Parkland’s senior vice president of energy transition and corporate development, said in the announcement.

Parkland’s chargers will be located on highways and “in major destinations” across Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan and parts of Alberta, according to the announcement.

Each site will feature two to four charging ports, each delivering up to 200 kilowatts and capable of charging most EV models within 20-30 minutes. Each charging location will be staffed, and customers can use Parkland’s Journie mobile app to find locations to charge at.

Parkland secured nearly $7 million in government funding to support the building of its EV charging network. Natural Resources Canada — the Canadian Government’s official sustainability arm — provided a $5 million grant through its Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, while the Government of British Columbia provided over $1.8 million.

With 1,860 stores in its Canadian network, Calgary, Alberta-based Parkland is the largest independent fuel retailer and second-largest c-store operator in Canada. In the U.S., Parkland supplies fuel to independently owned gas stations and operates 212 c-stores under a variety of banners, including On the Run, Rhinehart Oil, Hart’s, Farstad Oil, Superpumper, KB Express, Mort Distributing and more.