REGINA -- Charging Teslas in the Queen City just got a bit faster, as Regina welcomed its first electric supercharger station on Saturday.
“Up until this point, we haven't had a single supercharger in Saskatchewan. There are Petro-Canada chargers that have recently come online, that are almost as fast, but these ones will be the fastest chargers we can use,” said Tyler Krause, the president of the Saskatchewan Tesla Owners Club.
The new chargers are being installed in cities along the Trans-Canada highway from Vancouver all the way to Halifax.
“To charge to 80-per-cent on these chargers can take as little as 20 to 25 minutes,” said Krause. “Before, we would have to stay overnight in some places in order to charge as travel.”
For Krause’s Tesla, an 80 per cent charge fuels the car for around 400 km. Saskatchewan’s cold winter temperatures reduce the range by about 30 per cent.
“These are better vehicles in the winter time. With our personal experience, we've found that these vehicles start every single time, they produce tons of heat. They just have a little bit less range in the winter as compared to their summertime operation,” said Matthew Pointer, the founder of the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicles Association.
Noush Habeebkutty bought a Tesla Model X last year after doing years of research in to electric vehicles. He said while the upfront price of the SUV is high, there is next to no maintenance and a charge costs significantly less than a tank of gas.
“I don't miss going to the gas station and waiting in line to have that done. I just come home from work or wherever I go, and the car gets plugged in,” said Habeebkutty.
“I love long distance travelling. And I’ve taken this vehicle to Banff, Kelowna, I’ve gone camping in this vehicle. I want to showcase that it has uses like any other car.
The supercharger is located in the parking lot of the Prince of Wales Dr. Canadian Tire location in Regina.
