While battery electric vehicles or B-E-Vs are gaining popularity worldwide,  Manitoba and in particular the northern part of the province are lagging.

And, according to Thompson resident Volker Beckmann it’s due more to the lack of level 3 charging stations along highways 6 and 10 than interest in owning such a vehicle.

Here, Beckmann outlines the different types of charging stations available and how they are used.

“You can plug your car in like your heater plug at your house, which is like a hundred and ten volts that is what’s called a level one. It takes about 24 hours to charge your car. If you have a level two, which is two hundred and forty volts, you’ll be able to charge your car in three to four hours. If you are on the highway, you need a level three because they are so much faster.”

It’s the lack of level three charging stations that currently makes it difficult to drive a B-E-V from Winnipeg to points north.  

In the province’s bid to reduce carbon emissions, Beckmann feels these types of stations should be considered as infrastructure much like telephone lines or fibre optic cables.  

For the full interview with Beckmann catch Thompson Today this afternoon at 12:40 and 5:10.