Electric vehicle owners in Oakville, ON are now able to charge their cars free of charge while stopping in to enjoy a Tim Hortons coffee. Canada’s largest restaurant chain installed its first electric vehicle charging stations as part of a new pilot project.
“The electric vehicle infrastructure is in its infancy and we see a potential opportunity for Tim Hortons to help make a true difference by expanding that infrastructure in Canada,” said Paulo Ferreira, Senior Director, International Design and Building Standards, Tim Hortons.
“At this stage, the goal for us is to explore and understand the technology, to see how it can work at our restaurants and how we can, in turn, support our guests who choose to go electric.”
Tim Hortons partnered with Oakville Hydro and Town of Oakville to launch the pilot project. Along with customers visiting the Oakville Tim Hortons location at 228 Wyecroft Road, corporate employees can also charge up their EVs at the head office.
“Electric vehicles can potentially have an impact on distribution systems across Ontario,” said Rob Lister, President and CEO of Oakville Hydro Corporation. “As part of our Smart Grid initiatives, this pilot project will allow us to gain insight into how our distribution system responds and reacts to the addition of electric vehicles. We are very proud to be part of this project with other Oakville businesses.”
Tim Hortons continues discussions with additional municipalities in an attempt to expand the pilot before deciding on the future possibility of EV charging stations across the company’s more than 3,300 restaurants across Canada.
The company will also make provisions to run electrical wires to future charging stations through conduits in parking lots at all newly-built Canadian restaurants going forward, to simplify the installation process.
Ford Motor Company of Canada provided Tim Hortons with the C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid for testing purposes.