An EV speed run from Whitehorse to Vancouver: Part 1
Electric vehicles (EVs) have sold very well in the Yukon, accounting for about one in ten new cars sold here last year.
Many non-Yukoners are surprised when I tell them this; we are above the 60th parallel and live in small communities where we’re frequently required to drive long distances in cold temperatures. We must be crazy, right?
But our territorial government has made an effort to create an EV-friendly culture. All of our highway-connected communities have DC fast chargers (DCFCs, also known as Level 3 chargers). We have had these for years now, and it has helped establish a culture where people trust that if they buy an electric vehicle, the government will back them up.
It’s only fair to say that between the federal $5,000 EV subsidy and a matching $5,000 from YG (the best in Canada), there’s a degree of subtle bribery going on too. Further bribery: public EV charging in the Yukon is completely free, at least for now.
With those Level 3 (L3) chargers around the territory, travel in the Yukon is pretty easy in an EV. I’ve made multiple trips to Dawson City from Whitehorse. This past summer I even traveled to Anchorage a couple of times to help with a family member’s move.
My Mustang Mach-E only needs one 30-minute charge for the Dawson trip. While I’ll grant that’s more time than you’d see with gas or diesel, even at market charging rates it’s less than half the cost to drive electric.
The biggest disadvantage to driving an EV in the Yukon? There has been a near 900-km gap between the last Yukon L3 in Watson Lake and the next one in Northern B.C., in Fort St. John. Trips south in an EV were possible, but required multiple overnight stops at campgrounds with electrical hookups.
Yes, Northern Rockies Lodge at Muncho Lake has a Level 2 EV charger, but most EVs would need an overnight charge to make the next charger in either direction. It wasn’t impossible to drive an EV up the Alaska Highway, but it required planning and patience. Maybe even a little luck.
A conference has been running in Vancouver the past couple of years. Everything Electric is about many renewable energy technologies, but mostly it’s about electric cars and trucks. When I attended last year I wished I could do so without having to fly, but with that big hole in Northern B.C., I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to do it.
Little did I know, BC Hydro had other plans, and ambitious ones. They wanted to open a whole network of L3 chargers across Northern B.C. As my trip drew close, I realized I really would be able to make the drive in my own car!
At first, it appeared I would need to travel down the Cassiar Highway, because there was a new charger being built in Dease Lake that would (hopefully) be open before my departure, but as the days to my departure clicked by and I saw that BC Hydro had opened two new chargers on the Alaska Highway, I was especially excited: I used to drive truck on the Alcan and I’ve traveled it hundreds of times. One new charger was at Liard Hot Springs and I made a point to pack my swim trunks for a dip while I picked up charge.
PlugShare.com is a great website where charging sites get updated in real time and I started camping on it constantly. Is the new Dease Lake site up yet? What about Fort Nelson? Is that new Prophet River charger reliable? (Spoiler alert: not exactly.)
I departed Whitehorse at noon on Sept. 4 and made it to Watson Lake faster than I expected, even with an hour of charging in Teslin. At Watson, I found a fellow in a very dirty Tesla Model S at the charger there behind the Northern Lights Centre.
He was just returning from a trip up to Tuktoyaktuk to see the Arctic Ocean. He was just finishing up, preparing to stay at Liard that night. I told him I would catch up and try to talk him into going for a dip.
I generally spend an hour at our YG chargers. They output 50kW, and an hour is usually all I need, especially since Liard is only 208km further on from Watson Lake. It had just gotten dark when I arrived, and while it took me a minute, I found the new charger at the north end of the lodge’s lot.
These off-grid chargers are clever, packaged in a shipping container with both 25kW and 50kW chargers. There are solar panels on top, but those are just to drive management and communication. To actually charge your car you need to press a button to start a propane-fired generator. My new friend was staying the night at the lodge and knew I was going straight through, so he took the 25kW side, knowing I would want the faster charger.
It’s hard to tell you just what a big deal this was for me. Here I was, driving my favorite stretch of highway in my favorite car, and I wasn’t sure I would ever get this chance. I grabbed my swimsuit and towel and headed to the springs.
It was very cool to get to go soak in the springs while my car refueled. Was it a 90-minute refueling stop? Sure, but I also got to relax outdoors on a beautiful night.
To be continued…
