STEPHEN RICCIO
CAMPBELL’S BAY
Dec. 14, 2020
The MRC Pontiac announced the installation of the first public-use electric car charging station in the region in a Dec. 14 press release.
The station is located outside of the MRC’s office in Campbell’s Bay and it complements the electric car that was purchased in 2019 by the MRC. The purchases are . . .
the next steps of the SAUVéR project that was launched in 2018 by the Société d’innovation en Environnement and was spurred along in the Pontiac by a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), according to environmental coordinator Thierry Raimbault.
The grant from FCM was worth roughly $74,000, and Raimbault said the MRC also contributed roughly 25 per cent of the total cost of the project.
“[It is] pretty exciting news that now the public passing by or coming to the cottage can stop at the MRC to charge their electric vehicles,” said civil engineer Kim Lesage during the Dec. 16 council meeting.
Warden Jane Toller thanked Director General Bernard Roy as being a champion of the electric vehicle/charger initiative.
The charging station can now be used by members of the public at a charging cost of $1 per hour. It will be part of Hydro Quebec’s Electric Circuit that has set up stations in various parking lots across the province and Eastern Ontario, according to the MRC press release. While the Pontiac charging station is a 240-volt one, the circuit contains both 240-volt and 400-volt charging stations. Hopeful users can go online to lecircuitelectrique.com to become members and obtain the necessary card for using the charger.
The MRC electric car has already driven for 20,000 km while being used by MRC employees, but its newest role is in a partnership with TransporAction. The next step is making the car available for public use outside of office hours, something Raimbault said could happen in 2021.
“We want to offer the use of the car to some partners, like non-profit organizations, and right now TransporAction is using the car for their organization needs,” he explained. “The car should be available to Pontiac citizens through car sharing. [That’s] in the plan but it’s not effective right now.”
The SAUVéR initiative is underway in 10 different municipalities across Quebec that all face similar challenges with regard to access to public transit.
