Electric vehicle owners in Oakville, Ont., are now able to charge their cars while enjoying a Tim Hortons coffee.

Canada’s largest restaurant chain recently installed its first electric vehicle charging stations as part of a new pilot project. Charging stations are now available for guest use, free of charge, in an effort to study the technology, its usage and opportunities.

“The electric vehicle infrastructure is in its infancy and we see a potential opportunity for Tim Hortons to help make a true difference by expanding that infrastructure in Canada,” said Paulo Ferreira, senior director, International Design and Building Standards, Tim Hortons.

Tim Hortons is in discussions with other municipalities to expand the pilot before deciding on the future possibility of EV charging stations across the company’s more than 3,300 restaurants across Canada.

The company will also make provisions to run electrical wires to future charging stations through conduits in parking lots at all newly-built Canadian restaurants going forward, to simplify the installation process.

Leaf hits 50,000sales milestone

The 100-per-cent electric Nissan Leaf marked another milestone in the history of EVs Thursday as it passed the 50,000 sales mark, reinforcing its position as the best selling electric vehicle of all time.

Leaf owners around the world have now covered a total distance of more than 260 million kms, greater than the distance from the earth to the sun.

The highest mileage Leaf globally has been revealed as a Japanese customer who has covered more than 175,000 km, in a car that has only been on sale for two years.

In 17 European countries, 7,000 Leafs are being driven every day, with one customer in Spain has already clocked up over 43,000 km in one year. This is far beyond an average annual mileage and the rapid build up of mileage is testament to the reliability of the award-winning EV.

In the last 12 months, Europe registered significant growth of the CHAdeMO quick charging infrastructure. The number of these chargers which allow batteries to be recharged from empty to 80-per-cent battery capacity in around 30 minutes has rocketed from 158 to 601 in the last 12 months. The plans already in place are to more than double by the end of this year the number of installed quick charging installations. These units are being installed at strategic locations such as shopping centre car parks or highway service stations, allowing the 50,000 Nissan Leaf owners to push the electric vehicle revolution even further.

Tesla vs. NY Times

It’s considered a good thing when your news story goes viral, but that hasn’t been the case for New York Times reporter John M. Broder.

It started with the publication of Broder’s recent story entitled A Most Peculiar Test Drive, which unflatteringly chronicled his ride in a Tesla Model S, ostensibly to test out a new network of Tesla charging stations along the U.S. east coast.

In a nutshell, the review slammed the Tesla for running out of power sooner than advertised, and stated that at one point the car completely ran out of juice and had to be rescued by a flatbed truck.

Unbeknownst to Broder, the S was equipped with an on-board data recorder, the information from which was released by Tesla to show Broder never once ran out of power, and in fact made up much of his story in terms of where he went and how fast he drove.

To press time, there has been no comment from either Broder or the Times.

Check it out at teslamotors.com/blog/most-peculiar-test-drive