1,000 electric car charging stations coming to Montreal by 2020

The City of Montreal has revealed itsplanto encourage the expansion of electric vehicle useby 2020.

The plan calls for 50 charging stationsto be available in the downtown core starting this summer.

The stations will then be graduallyexpanded to 1,000 around the cityby 2020.

To encourage the expansion of electric car-sharing vehiclesavailable in Montreal, the city alsosaid only electric vehicles will be eligible foruniversal parking permits used by car-sharing services like Car2Go and Communauto by2020.

The city unveiled its plan Wednesdaymorning at City Hall.

"Our administration is committed to making Montreal the electrification capital of North America," said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.

"Thenetwork of electric car-sharing vehicles will help to transform and improve the city's transportation options and reduce our footprint on the environment."

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More 'red tape,' says Projet Montral

Craig Sauv, the transportation critic forProjet Montral, questionedthe plan to force electrification through permits.

''We could havemaybe put a bylaw together saying 'in seven years, you must all be electric'simple. But no, we have to do this red-tape bureaucratisation, going through all these extra hoops," he said.

"It's not like throughthat we're going to start encouraging development and innovation.''

Rollout

The city says that by the end of June, it will have 50 electric carcharging stations installed downtown. By the end of the year, that number will jump to 120.

Last October, both the province and the city said they wouldbe responsible for installing 53 charging stations each between the end of Novemberand thisspring.

Most of the stations were slated for downtown Montreal, located on sidewalks next to parking spots.