Electric vehicle drivers will get to supercharge their rides later this year once a proposed Tesla Supercharger station opens at St. Albert Centre.
The Gazette has learned that St. Albert Centre plans to install Tesla Superchargers in its parking lot later this year.
News of the installation was posted on Facebook March 17, 2025, by a member of the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta who had spotted a notice on PlugShare, a popular website that tracks the location of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
Tesla operates a network of high-speed chargers called Superchargers that can add about 322 km of range to an EV in just 15 minutes — a feat that would take hours or days at most regular chargers.
In an email, St. Albert Centre general manager Jillian Creech said Primaris REIT (the mall’s owner) had recently entered rental agreements to bring Tesla Superchargers to all its shopping centres. St. Albert Centre will be getting 12 Superchargers and six conventional chargers that will be installed west of the Bellerose Drive entrance to the mall’s parking lot. The chargers will be open to all EV owners regardless of what brand of vehicle they own. (Non-Tesla cars may need a plug adapter.)
“We anticipate the Supercharger station to open to the public this year,” Creech said, with the opening date to be published later this year on social media.
The St. Albert Centre station will be one of just three in the Edmonton region once built, (the others are at the Currents of Windermere and Southgate Centre), PlugShare reports.
Shockingly fast
Superchargers are examples of Level 3 chargers, which pump out DC-based electricity at up to 800 V and can add about 400 km of range to an electric car in about 45 minutes, Car and Driver explains. Level 1 and 2 chargers use AC-based electricity and operate at 120 V (standard outlet) or 250 V (washing machine).
PlugShare listed 18 sites in Edmonton and Sturgeon County with Level 3 chargers as of March 25, 2025. St. Albert had none. The closest Level 3 charger to St. Albert was the one at the Telus World of Science Edmonton.
While most EV owners can charge at home, Level 3 chargers like the Superchargers offer flexibility, said William York, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta.
“DC fast chargers are for people that don’t live in St. Albert,” he said, such as tourists and long-range commuters.
“It will help bring people from outside your municipality into your municipality to do commerce.”
Prices vary, but York said most EV owners can expect to pay $20 to $30 to charge their car to 80 per cent from 20 at a Level 3 charger.
A September 2024 study in Nature Communications found that EV charging stations can draw potential customers to a region and drive of economic growth, boost spending at nearby establishments by 0.8 to 3.2 per cent.
Harry Wagensveld, a St. Albert resident who owns a Tesla Model Y, said he planned to use the St. Albert Centre chargers once they opened, and would likely hang around the mall while he waited for his car to charge.
York called this Supercharger announcement cause for celebration.
“It’s one more way electric vehicles are taking over the world.”
