Revelstoke’s Tesla charging stations foretell coming electric car transition

As first reported in the June issue of the Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine.

The age of automation is upon us and as the emerging industry of electric and automatic cars gains traction, is Revelstoke ready?

Currently the likes of Tesla, Nissan and BMW lead this industry and for car owners looking for somewhere to juice up in Revelstoke, we have six electric stations answering that demand.

Five of those are at the Revelstoke Best Western Plus which general manager Brady Beruschi said operate free of charge and anyone is welcome to use them.

“[We wanted] to be the leader in the industry and the community,” he said.

The business installed their first machine in 2011. It takes about four hours to fully charge a car and to begin with, saw infrequent use.

But as the trend towards electric has continued, demand has grown. In 2015 the business, in partnership with Tesla, installed four machines exclusive to the manufacturer. These take about 45 minutes to fully charge a car and during the busy summer, they’re in frequent use.

A customer takes a snap of a Tesla charging machine while passing through Revelstoke. Photo: yibaoAC on Twitter

“If people are travelling east from Revelstoke, they hit our charge station,” Beruschi said. “They want to hit Rogers Pass with a full charge, for obvious reasons.”

One other charging station in Revelstoke, installed by BC Hydro, sits out the front of the Visitor Information Centre, but a few technical problems has caused low usage.

Car buffs will likely have spotted a few Teslas around town in the past couple of years, but they are still scarce. Their current models are well into the luxury price range. But the Model 3, Tesla’s much-hyped foray into the mid-range market, is scheduled to hit the market in 2017. Tesla has announced the price at about $35,000 USD.

The Model 3 will have a range of 345 kilometres per charge, which is fine for urban commuters, but a challenge when driving the Trans-Canada Highway between B.C. and Alberta. It’s also an opportunity for Revelstoke; technologies vary, but charging takes time — time highway drivers could use to stop for lunch and a visit.

To get an idea of the demand for chargers in Canada, the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) has a map of charging stations around the country.