Let’s face it; Canada’s EV charging infrastructure is woefully inadequate, and the public chargers that do exist are often out of service. That’s why the announcement of a new, high-speed charging system by Canadian-based Flo is exciting.
The charge network and infrastructure company will soon offer Flo Ultra, a series of Level 3 high-speed chargers that offer speeds up to 320 kW, which Flo says will charge some electric vehicles from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in 15 minutes. It can also charge up to 500 kW with multiple electric vehicle charging stations connected together.
The stations, which are an all-in-one unit that have two charging ports, are also guaranteed to have a minimum uptime of 98 per cent, which will be good news for those who have experienced getting to a public charger only to find it not working. The chargers can be configured in a variety of ways, allowing for flexible parking options for drivers and easier installation for site hosts. They also come with illuminated canopies, state-of-charge indicators to let drivers know quickly if the station is available, and a patent-pending motorized cable management system that helps drivers manoeuvre the cables when charging.
There is no news on a rollout as of yet, but Flo Ultra charging stations will be available for North American businesses and governments to purchase next year. Let’s hope we see many of them along our highways in the near future.
