What’s next for EV charging in cities

With the rising number of EVs registered in Canada, there is a growing need to expand EV charging nationwide. Access to charging needs to be convenient and affordable, which means access to a charger at home for most people. With about a third of people in Canada living in apartments and condos, the demand for charging in multi-family buildings, especially in cities, will be huge.  

TAF’s team has seen the demand firsthand through our EV Station Fund. The program wrapped up at the end of 2024, after being fully subscribed and supporting the installation of 841 chargers across the GTHA. We heard directly from funding recipients that the program addressed the basic need for reliable charging, and delivered a welcome amenity to their residences, workplaces, and neighbourhoods. It reduced or eliminated their reliance on gas-powered vehicles—an important step in cutting transportation emissions as they continue to rise in the GTHA.  Most installations were in multi-family buildings, with a few in public places, fleets, and workplaces. 

Dealing with larger buildings taught us a lot about the financial and technical complexity of upgrading parking garages to accommodate multiple chargers.  Some EV Station Fund recipients reported wanting to expand EV charging installations to meet their buildings’ future charging needs but lacked the upfront capital to do so.  After doing these upgrades mostly in a “piecemeal” fashion, we know we need to adopt a more holistic approach.  This was supported by a report that found the best way to equip multi-family building owners and residents with home charging is through a comprehensive approach that makes all parking spaces in the building EV-ready (each parking space has an energized outlet that supports the easy installation of future Level 2 chargers). 

Whole building EV-ready upgrades are at the centre of the effort to meet local and national climate targets, while delivering equity goals for transportation. The research report recommended that “to keep pace with the EV-ready retrofits that are needed, interventions should enable whole building, comprehensive retrofits over a fragmented approach.”

What we learned about usage

• Most applicants were for level 2 chargers in multi-family buildings, particularly condos, confirming that home charging is the preferred method of charging, and building owners see this as an important amenity to offer residents and visitors.  
•  Charger utilization peaks on weekends, particularly Sundays, and during late-night hours, utilizing lower off-peak electricity rates. This implies a strong preference to charge overnight and on weekends – either due to convenience or cost. This spike in charging also underscores the need to integrate demand management into charging infrastructure. 
• Charger usage in public spaces (on-street and public lots) exhibited higher total usage than those in condos and apartments.  As condo and apartment lots are not publicly accessible, this is likely due to a smaller number of EV users with access to the chargers. We know that some multifamily buildings installed charging infrastructure exceeding the number of residents with EVs, in anticipation that EV adoption will increase, and the data does show charger usage in multifamily buildings increase over time. Public on-street sites in Toronto and public parking lots in Halton, exhibited the highest utilization. 
• Public on-street charger utilization rates continued to climb throughout the year. The increasing trend in utilization may suggest a growing adoption of EVs.

*Usage trends are based on analysis completed in spring 2024 before program completion. 

Recommendations for cities and building owners

As need for EV charging grows, here are our takeaways for parking lot owners and operators: 

• Focus on optimizing charger placement in high-traffic areas, particularly where they may be publicly accessible, and where rideshare drivers reside.
• Focus on comprehensive EV-ready upgrades in multi-family buildings over a piecemeal approach to reduce costs overall and be ready for future demand.  
• Charger reliability and uptime is critically important. Chargers should be actively monitored to detect downtime and ensure a fast response. Aim for at least 97% uptime. 
• Support GTHA municipalities and utilities to adopt EV-ready requirements for new construction, pilot local charging-as-a-service models, and develop training and resources to help condo boards and rental housing owners get up to speed on the benefits of EV-ready upgrades.  

See further municipal recommendations here. 

Building on the lessons learned through EV Station Fund, we know that sustained federal funding will be also be needed to support EV charging infrastructure focused on multi-family buildings.

Financing options must also be more available. TAF is preparing to pilot a comprehensive approach in different types of multi-family buildings across the GTHA, and we want to hear from investors, building owners, and condo boards that might like to participate. 

Our experience so far shows that there is increasing demand for access to EV charging infrastructure. With commitment from public and private actors from parking lot owners to utilities, we know cities can meet the demand.