Could EV charging stations work in Toronto?

Engineering students at the University of Toronto are already thinking about the future – and how to set up the necessary infrastructure.

As part of a class project, where firstyear engineering science students were dispatched across the city to identify problems and find solutions, Kevin Lam, Michael Vinelli and Kiarash Tajdaran proposed the idea of building charging stations at Toronto Parking Authority lots.

“It looks like a parking meter. The users would bring their own cables from home,” said Vinelli, adding there would be a locking device to prevent theft because the copperladen cables are often a target for thieves. And as drivers park in designated slots – that could charge up to two cars with one machine – they would hook up their cars and head off to work, an errand or even a movie.

Although the team had considered setting up charging stations on the streets, the idea of ripping up sidewalks became a deterrent. Under their plan, the electric wires would need to be laid in the parking lot and the charging station would share space with a light standard or carsharing post, so it would not interfere with snowclearing equipment.

While this may seem feasible, YoungYoung Shen, Alexandre Lafortune and Sebastian Kosch went one step further, coming up with a wireless charging station – where cars would have one coil and the charging station would have the other bolted into the ground.

Then the motorist would drive into a stall – where tire bumps would guide the car to the right spot, and when the coils align – like a magnet – the battery would start charging.

“We think the efficiency would be close to the standard contact plug method,” said Shen, but he conceded the technology is not widely in use yet, though Nissan is now studying it.

His group envisions designated electric vehicle spots – like hybrid or handicapped spots in some parking lots.

One potential side bonus could be for the electric vehicle owner to make money selling its extra charged power back to the grid, said Lafortune.

“The grid system could draw power from the vehicle, and the owner could reduce their bill,” he said.