I wanna walk down to Electric Avenue

Or drive it in an electric car, natch. We’re having some pretty major electric dreams right now as (drum-roll please)…

We just installed 36 new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations at UHN!  We have Tesla wall connectors and Universal (J1772 Connector) charging stations so they can be used by all kinds of EVs. Best part? There is no extra cost to charge your car. Just pay for parking, and power up.

Where?

Toronto General Hospital: Elizabeth Street Lot:

• 16 Tesla Vehicle charging stations
• 8 Universal (J1772 Connector) charging stations for other EVs

Toronto Western Hospital: Leonard Street Lot:

• 8 Tesla Vehicle charging stations (Tesla Wall Connectors)
• 4 Universal (J1772 Connector) charging stations for other EVs

Though all charging stations have been manufactured by Tesla, you can distinguish the universal charging stations by the much longer cord and by generic EV signage. These charging stations are split between staff and patient/visitor parking so everyone can benefit.

As we know from Mike’s post, climate change is a health care issue. In Ontario, gas-powered transportation is responsible for the most Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that cause climate change, not to mention, the pollution that causes asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory illness. Yikes! Switching to clean-air transportation heals patients and planet simultaneously, right up our alley.

A top reason I’ve heard people pause before transitioning to electric is range anxiety. This surge in EV charging infrastructure really breaks that down. Staff know they can charge their cars at work (and make their home electric bills even smaller), and visitors know that not only are they brightening a patient’s day, they are powering up while they visit. Let’s not forget the added convenience of not having to go to a glamorous gas station anymore.

A recent look at Plugshare, the google maps of EV charging stations, shows there are lots of charging options now (though the yellow highlighted ones are particularly sweet :).

There is more good news. Not only can you charge up in UHN garages, the Canadian Federal Government will give you $5,000 cash back if you buy a reasonable electric car or other zero-emissions vehicle. Sweet!!! This breaks down the other barrier to EVs, the higher up-front costs. Good to note that EVs pay for themselves sooner than you’d think; no gas and far lower maintenance costs, plus a super peppy and quiet ride. I’ll stop gushing now :).

This was one of my favorite projects to work on yet! It is the culmination of an amazing collaboration between UHN’s FM-PRO team (which houses us in Energy & Environment) and Tesla Motors Canada ULC as part of the Tesla Destination Charging Program. A big thank you to all of the people involved, including Ron Swail, Susan Grove, John Latam, Roula Boultadakis, Tameru Tesfaye, Stewart Dankner, Karl Karvonen, John Soares, Chris Read, Brent Kurliak, Eusra Amin, Joe Lopes, Emily Martins, Todd Milne, Carl Valentine, Perry Ross, Ed Rubinstein, Mike Kurz, Mehdi Motakefpour, Robert Reti, Angela Elia, Liliana Vilela-Andre, Tony Letterio, Daniel Valadares and the JML team.

 

P.S. Here is the official website for the Government of Canada $5,000 Zero Emissions Vehicle Rebate. Or you can skip straight to the list of eligible vehicles

http://www.tc.gc.ca/en/services/road/innovative-technologies/zero-emission-vehicles.html

P.P.S: Misheard song lyrics alert:  Eddy Grant’s song is actually “We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue”. Not walk :). Thank you, helpful readers!