Tesla Shifts Supercharging in Canada to kWh Billing

Image: Tesla North

Tesla has transitioned to billing Supercharging in Canada by kilowatt-hour (kWh) instead of the previous method of billing by the minute, a change made Thursday morning, reports Tesla North.

Locations such as Vancouver in British Columbia are showing rates of $0.29/kWh, while Toronto, Ontario, is priced at $0.48/kWh, depending on the location. Rates in the Lower Mainland are being touted as some of the cheapest Supercharging rates in North America, when compared to other rates elsewhere.

Gone are the previous billing tiers based on charging speeds, such as ‘Tier 1,’ ‘Tier 2,’ ‘Tier 3,’ and ‘Tier 4.’ According to the Tesla website, “Whenever possible, owners are billed per kWh (kilowatt-hour); in other areas, owners are billed per minute.”

Interestingly, Vancouver appears to have some of the cheaper rates compared to the rest of the country, based on checks of Supercharger locations by Tesla North.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had expressed dissatisfaction with Canada’s minute-based billing requirement for EV charging in March 2022, stating, “Canada requires charging by the minute vs kWh. We’re working to get that changed.”

It seems that Tesla’s efforts paid off, as Measurement Canada approved all fast-charging networks, including Tesla, to charge customers by the amount of electricity used earlier this year, abandoning the time-based approach.

Tesla’s influence in this legal modification is evident, with its vehicles contributing to record highs in iZEV federal rebates, aligning with the federal government’s clean energy mission.

These changes to billing are thanks to new regulations introduced by Measurement Canada in February 2023, intending to make EV battery charging a more equitable process. Under the previous system, the minute-based billing method was unfair to drivers of slower-charging vehicles, who would end up paying more for less electricity.

The new regulations, set to be implemented over the next year still, aim to level the playing field by allowing charging stations to bill customers based on the actual amount of charge their vehicles consume.

This reform represents a balanced approach, reflecting the varying charging capacities of different EVs, and is a welcome change for Tesla Superchargers in Canada. Now, when charging the final 20% of your EV battery (which is typically the slowest for battery health, just like your iPhone), Tesla owners won’t be billed at a higher rate when they need to juice up to 100% while on a road trip, for example.

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