Canada, U.S feds announce Binational EV Corridor

Canada’s transport minister joined his U.S. counterpart Tuesday to announce what’s being touted as “the first Binational Electric Vehicle (EV) Corridor.”

“We’re going to make sure that when our Canadian friends come over, you will have no problem finding a place to charge… Canada’s doing the reciprocal,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

The collaboration between the two governments will see new DC fast chargers for EVs installed along a route stretching from Kalamazoo, Mich., to Quebec City, Que., — with plans to have some every 80 kilometres along that route, which in its entirety stretches about 1,400 km.

“As we all know, there is nothing more pure Michigan than accidentally driving into Canada,” said Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan. “Today we’re here today to talk about making that accidental journey electric.”

Map of the Binational Electric Vehicle (EV) Corridor at the announcement in Detroit on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Travis Fortnum /CTV News Windsor)

“We know that more and more Canadians and Americans are switching from gas powered vehicles to zero emission,” said Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra. “And one of the ways to encourage these purchases is by letting you know that you will be able to charge your car on the road, especially when you’re traveling long distances or across the border… accidentally or not.”

On the Canadian side of the border, all 215 EV chargers that make out the corridor are already in place.

It’s a move that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says “continues to strengthen the United States and Canada’s partnership on EV charging standards.”

“The US and Canada have long enjoyed a deep friendship and a productive partnership including and especially around transportation issues,” he said.

Buttigieg says his government’s investment serves to “boost domestic manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, and create good-paying jobs while supporting the U.S. goal of having 50 per cent of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.”

Where Canada is concerned, the corridor is touted as another step towards the goal of “achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”