Fries with that charge: trio of local McDonald’s to get EV stations

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This article was published 31/07/2023 (817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Electric vehicle charging stations are planned for three McDonald’s restaurants locations in Winnipeg, via a grant from the provincial government.

The $176,000 grant to Manitoba-based green infrastructure group Eco-West Canada will go toward installing six Level 2 electric vehicle charging connectors at three McDonald’s in the capital city.

Two of the locations have yet to be decided; one will be the 3401 Portage Ave. location, chosen for its proximity to the Perimeter Highway.

“In the past several months, we have noticed that there are more electric cars coming to our restaurants. When I spoke to some of the guests about the experience of driving electric cars, the feedback I got was that there were not enough chargers in the city. This was especially challenging for cars coming from a distance and cars coming from other provinces,” franchise manager Amit Kapoor said outside of the restaurant Monday morning.

“That is when we started the conversations with minister’s office to explore how we can make the charging stations more accessible.”

On Monday, Environment Minister Kevin Klein also announced the final three of eight EV charging stations announced through a separate $150,000 initiative earlier this year are being installed at The Pas Civic Centre, Thompson Regional Community Centre, and the TC Energy Centre in Ile des Chênes.

(Five were previously set up in the Village of Dunnottar and communities of Holland, Cypress River, and Treherne.)

The McDonald’s stations will have Level 2 chargers, while rural areas will receive Level 3 stations.

Charger levels are defined by having increasing electrical output and charging speed: Level 1 is typically used in residential spaces; Level 2 is often found in public parking lots; Level 3 is often used for commercial or heavy-duty electric vehicles.

There was no set ETA on the restaurant charging stations being installed.

Eco-West Canada focuses on improving the economies of rural municipalities across the country through the use of green infrastructure, said executive director Dany Robidoux.

“With this announcement, we’re able to support not only municipalities, but businesses as well who want to take part in this transition to greener transportation in order to ensure that we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca