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EV charging station

Sunday night’s Super Bowl saw the Los Angeles Rams triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals, but it also marked a big victory for electric car fans. During the game’s commercial breaks, legacy automakers like BMW and GM joined newer brands like Polestar in touting exciting new electric vehicles, or EVs.

Granted, before the electric revolution can really kick off, charging infrastructure has some catching up to do. Car designers are clearly doing their part to woo EV buyers with sweeping curves and futuristic cockpits. But it’s now up to architects and interior designers to ensure that the experience of charging an EV feels as pleasant as the experience of driving one.

Currently, “range anxiety” — a driver’s fear that they won’t be able to reach their destination because of limited battery capacity — remains one of the biggest hurdles to more widespread adoption of EVs. And when drivers do locate one of Canada’s 15,000 (and growing!) public or semi-private charging stations, they tend to find them in settings that don’t necessarily lend themselves to killing time. Charging up for highway driving can take 20 to 40 minutes — significantly longer than the five-minute pit-stops that traditional gas stations have been designed for. Indeed, many of the elements that we tend to associate with gas stations — namely, slushie machines and beef jerky stands — feel tied to the bygone days of exhaust fumes. Which raises the question: What sort of roadside diversions and design features can complement the clean-living ethos of the EV experience?

First prize winner “More With Less” by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland

Enter “The Electric Fueling Station of the Future,” a design competition held by EV news outlet Electric Autonomy Canada in partnership with Parkland, a fuel company that operates retail service stations for brands like Esso, Chevron and Ultramar. At the beginning of the month, the competition announced its first-prize winner — “More With Less” designed by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland — as well as two runners-up: “The Circle” by Istanbul’s Fabric.a Architects and “Plug and Play” by Berlin’s Pavel Babiienko.

Second prize winner “The Circle” by Istanbul’s Fabric.a Architects
Third prize winner “Plug and Play” by Berlin’s Pavel Babiienko

The three top concepts (which share CAD$40,000 of prize money) were chosen from more than 100 entries by a judging panel that included architects Claire Weisz of WXY and Bruce Kuwabara of KPMB Architects as well as expert retail executives and Magalie Debellis, a designer of Cadillac’s upcoming LYRIQ EV. The diversity of perspectives on the panel reflected the fact that, in many ways, the competition was seeking to define an entirely new typology. “It’s as if Steve Jobs had asked them to design something,” says Kuwabara. “I think it would represent such a radical change from gas stations as we know them.”

First prize winner “More With Less” by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Silvester’s winning submission looks a bit like Apple’s Chicago flagship (or by night, a wooden spacecraft). At the heart of the design sits an oval-shaped complex clad with off-the-shelf timber and lit with strip LED lighting.

First prize winner “More With Less” by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland

Underneath this wooden canopy, space for a café, fitness studio and retail shop is built into the centre’s structural bays, while the non-structural ones between them act as landscaped courtyards. Bordering this commercial hub is a ring-shaped charging zone of parking spots, with each of the building’s bays corresponding to three charging spots. Upon arrival, digital displays clearly direct drivers to vacant stations. The modularity of this concept allows the design to be easily scaled up or down to adapt to different lots.

First prize winner “More With Less” by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland

Appropriately, sustainability is another big focus of the design, which integrates solar panels, a rainwater collection system and low-E glass. “You could easily run away with a project like this and design something that’s more theoretical and out there, but I wanted to understand what this could be today,” Silvester explains. It’s a stick in the sand. Not fireworks and glitz and glam but something that’s of its time: very modern in its form but with pared-back, natural materials.”

First prize winner of EV charging station competition: “More With Less” by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland
First prize winner “More With Less” by James Silvester of Edinburgh, Scotland

Parkland now plans to build Silvester’s concept in B.C., before potentially introducing it in other markets as well. If anyone in car marketing is seeking a good spot to shoot their next Super Bowl commercial, look no further.

These Are the EV Charging Stations of the Future

EV news outlet Electric Autonomy Canada and fuel company Parkland team up for an architectural competition that rethinks roadside stops for the electric era.

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