Pay to park and to power: Windsor converting parking spaces into EV charging locations

Windsor is converting parking spaces into electric vehicle charging locations.

Flo-Telus will install and maintain six new EV stations along the Riverfront.

“People are still paying us for parking, but then they're able to plug in if they have an EV charging station. I think it's a great model,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said Monday.

Council voted to embark on a one-year pilot public-private partnership with the company.

Three riverfront lots - Legacy Beacon, Dieppe Gardens and in front of the casino – will each have two paid parking spots with EV charging capabilities.

“It is expensive to put these stations in,” said Dilkens. “They're (Flo-Telus) using basically our parking spaces.”

What hasn’t been determined is how much the power will cost but, according to the report before council, Flo-Telus will determine the rate for users.

Currently, Windsor has 11 electric vehicle charging stations, where it’s free to power up for now, said Dilkens.

“That model will change over time as more people adopt electric vehicle technology. But in the short term, as we try and ramp up here and get over the hump and, alleviate some of the concerns that the public has with respect to not enough charging stations, this is part of the answer,” he said.