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Find out where Kelowna’s latest superchargers are being installed

Charge while you shop

  • Six superchargers being installed next to Milestones
  • Chargers will fit a variety of electric vehicles

A new electric vehicle (EV) supercharging hub is coming to Kelowna at the popular Orchard Park Shopping Centre.

The charging stations will be located on the north side of the mall adjacent to Harvey Avenue, and will allow anything from a Tesla to a Chevrolet EV to top up.

Christopher Misch, the founder and CEO of ChargerQuest, the company installing the hub, told Kelowna10 Orchard Park Mall makes a lot of sense.

“It’s the largest mall between greater Vancouver and greater Calgary, millions of people visit it annually, and it’s really in the middle of the city of Kelowna so it’s the ideal location to create a charging hub,” Misch said.

Misch, as well as management of the shopping centre, decided on six supercharging stations as a good starting point.

“The average person is going to use them for 15-20 minutes, to upwards of 45 minutes, which aligns really well with a quick in-and-out mall visit, or to a local vendor, restaurant, or cafe - so it worked out really well,” Misch said.

He added as electric vehicle sales ramp up and continue to be sold around Canada, the charging stations will be able to top up those vehicles.

“Our chargers are really focused on every vehicle in the market today,” Misch said.

Keeping things flowing

Parking spots will be monitored by ChargerQuest’s real time cloud based operating system, to help give insight into whether people are parking at the spot longer than they need to.

“You don’t want to show up knowing you need to top up your vehicle and there’s someone parked there, [and] they’re not even charging because their charging episode ended 30 minutes ago,” Misch said.

He added if they find people are parking beyond a certain time limit, they will have a fee associated with that.

“That will really just deter them from staying plugged in for prolonged periods of time,” he said.

According to Misch, 23 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation.

“If we can put these charging stations in throughout British Columbia… it’s going to do our part to reduce those emissions, and that’s really important from our point of view,” he said.

Misch also added Kelowna has a lot of traffic volume during the summer months, so the charging stations could help drive eco tourism.

“Let’s promote the shift towards electric vehicles, and I think Kelowna is the perfect place to have our flagship supercharging location.”

Published 2022-03-02 by Keelan Bourdon

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