BC Hydro Opens First Fast-Charging Station in Esquimalt

en.Wedoany.com Reported - BC Hydro has announced the opening of the first local electric vehicle fast-charging station in Esquimalt, British Columbia. The new station is located in the parking lot of the Archie Browning Sports Centre and is equipped with three 180 kW DC fast chargers, capable of charging six electric vehicles simultaneously. Each charging unit uses a power-sharing mode, delivering up to 90 kW output each when two vehicles are connected at the same time.

The station supports CCS, CHAdeMO, and NACS charging connectors, covering the major EV connection standards currently on the market. According to published data, a single 180 kW charging unit can add up to 180 kilometers of range in approximately 10 minutes under compatible vehicle and ideal conditions.

The Esquimalt site is part of the expansion of the public fast-charging network. High-power charging facilities are continuously being deployed at urban nodes and transportation corridors, with plans to expand the province's public charging ports to 3,500 by 2035.

Compared with large charging hubs recently built in places such as Richmond, the Esquimalt project is smaller in scale and primarily serves as a community public fast-charging facility. Its commissioning fills the network gap left by Esquimalt's previous lack of a company-owned fast-charging site and further improves public charging coverage in the western part of the Greater Victoria area.

The public charging network currently covers multiple cities and highway nodes across British Columbia. In recent years, the company has continued to add 180 kW, 350 kW, and 400 kW-class fast-charging equipment and has increased the number of vehicles served simultaneously at a single station through power sharing.