Automotive News Canada - March 2017 - 10

10

Partnership with FLO
charging company
seen as one step
toward privatizing
By GREG LAYSON
ONLINE EDITOR

NISSAN IS OFFERING NEW
Leaf buyers in Canada home
charging stations at a discount
just as the electric-vehicle market starts to get a little more
crowded with cars such as the
Chevrolet Bolt compact.
Nissan is partnering with
FLO, which specializes in EV
charging and operates more
than 3,000 stations across

* MARCH 2017

Nissan discounts home chargers
as EV competition increases
Canada. Nissan will offer
a $500 discount on the FLO
home charging station to every
buyer of a new Nissan Leaf
from participating dealerships
until March 31, 2017. FLO will
also offer new Leaf buyers a
free access card to its charging
network, which it calls the
largest in Canada.
"The EV market in Canada
and specifically in the province of Québec is already
becoming more competitive
and this will only increase in
the next few months and years

Nissan and FLO estimate that
80 per cent of EV charging
takes place at home, thus the
partnership between the two.
(PHOTO: NISSAN)

with the launch of new EVs
from our competitors," Nissan
told Automotive News Canada
in a statement.
There will be about 22
EV or plug-in hybrid models from about 14 manufacturers available in Canada in
2017. Volkswagen said at the
Los Angeles Auto Show in
November that the all-electric
e-Golf would arrive in Canada
in mid-2017. The Chevrolet
Bolt went on sale in January,
but Nissan said "there is no
correlation between the FLO

partnership and the arrival of
the Chevy Bolt."
Leaf sales in Canada have
increased four consecutive
years: 1,375 in 2016, up from
240 in 2012. The top three provinces for Leaf sales are Québec
with 862, B.C. with 284, and
Ontario with 212. All three
provinces offer rebates to EV
buyers.
Nissan and FLO estimate
that more than 80 per cent of
EV charging occurs at home.
"This is why our partnership focuses on the most
important type of charging,"
the company said.
John Groves, the manager of education and outreach
for Plug 'N Drive, a nonprofit organization committed to
accelerating the adoption of
EVs, called the deal a great
partnership.
"It's not new marketing but
it is good marketing," Groves
said. "We've seen it in the gas
business, too. You can buy a
gas-powered car and somebody
will give you a $500 gas card."
Groves said it is eventually going to take private business and partnerships like the
one between Nissan and FLO,
which is owned by AddÉnergie
of Québec, to expand the EV
market in Canada.

The government doesn't
run gas stations and they
don't want to run EV
charging stations.
JOHN GROVES

Manager of education and
outreach for Plug 'N Drive
"There isn't a simple, easy
solution to charging infrastructure. The government is
involved because it wants to
encourage adoption of electric
vehicles," Groves said. "They
get involved in the early days,
when it doesn't make money
sense. They're willing to seed
the ground."
The government of Ontario,
for example, said in 2016 it
will spend $20 million to build
nearly 500 EV charging stations at more than 250 locations in 2017.
"The next step is for it to
become private," Groves said.
"The government doesn't run
gas stations and they don't
want to run EV charging stations. Private enterprise has to
put those networks in and the
FLO network is an example of
that."
Canadian Minister of
Innovation, Science and
Economic Development
Navdeep Bains told Automotive
News Canada he and Minister
of Environment and Climate
Change Catherine McKenna
are working on how best to
spur EV demand in Canada.
"Those are the kinds of
discussions we're having, in
terms of building the kind of
infrastructure we need," Bains
said. "But it's about partnerships. Our prime minister has
made it very clear we want to
be a partner when it comes to
these solutions." - ANC
http://rousseau-automotive.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - March 2017
