Barbara and Greg Whitchurch

So, you think an electric vehicle (EV) is not an option for a long trip? Let us talk about a 3,000-mile trip into some of the remotest territory in eastern Canada.

First, some background. Our daughter, her husband (Peter), and our two grandkids live in a small town on the easternmost coastline of New Brunswick (NB), Canada — near Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Peter is a wildlife biologist for all four of the Atlantic provinces. His job necessitates a lot of air, water and land travel to VERY remote areas (hiking/climbing involved!) organizing and conducting bird research efforts.

Peter has specialized in researching critically endangered species for decades, and his employer, the Canadian Wildlife Service, is committed to environmental awareness and practices. When he requested that the government replace his gas work pickup with an EV, they got him a Ford Lightning EV pickup.

[Peter’s family is no stranger to EVs. Two years ago, we helped them purchase a Chevy Bolt, to pair with their old Nissan Leaf EV – thus replacing their ‘perfectly fine’ Kia gasmobile.]

Right now, he is developing a new project reaching into Labrador. Below are some lightly edited excerpts from his emails to us during this effort (bit.ly/45HqzCG).

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“Just had a very interesting EV experience [on my way] to Labrador City. I came up through NB, into Quebec, over to Quebec City, backtracked along the north side of the [St. Lawrence] river to Baie Comeau where I turned north. [Then] it is about 600 km (375 miles) of road with no towns.

“Despite [that], there was some infrastructure for charging. First one was at a Hydro Quebec dam site called Manic 5. Gotta love Quebec’s adoption of the EV lifestyle. There were two AC (Level 2), and then two 24 kW, a 50 kW, and 100 kW DC chargers. Yup – all in the middle of nowhere. But it gets better, they are installing … two 320 kW units. No shortage of power at this site, as you can see from the photo … with the dam as the backdrop.

“I plugged into the 24-kW unit and slept … while I charged to 100%. It needs the Flo RFID card to activate because there is no cell signal there, obviously. I woke up to 0-degree temps (32F), and headed off. Used more energy than anticipated because of the cold, so it was looking like I might not make it. I knew there was another charger along the way that was ‘experimental,’ i.e. powered by batteries that are charged by solar, with a trickle charge from a grid connection. Basically, a charger in a shipping container! I found that and topped up for another 20 minutes.

“Made it, and waiting for the truck to charge here in Labrador City. A fun and interesting adventure. I still have another 550 km (342 miles) to drive to Goose Bay, with one 60 kW charger somewhere in the middle.

“I was out on the highway assessing some future survey plots for our Boreal Bird Monitoring project, and took a [pic of] a burned-over area from a past forest fire, which threatened Churchill Falls, NL.”

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My husband and I visit our kids regularly and have traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia in our current 2019 Kia Niro EV crossover. Here are our and Peter’s tips for remote traveling:

Know your vehicle – its range and capability;

Investigate the chargers on your route through sites and apps like PlugShare or ChargePoint;

Mind the range costs of your accessories (heating, cooling, and fridge). We carry a 48 qt. plug-in fridge/freezer with us on trips;

Bring food and water (and a sleeping bag), and ALWAYS take your AC Level 1 trickle charger, just in case;

Range anxiety is a newbie affliction; no way to avoid it. But it does fade away.

Peter and we have driven our personal EVs into some pretty sketchy areas, off-roading a bit, if you will. We all find them to be just as capable as any of the gas cars we have had over the past 60 years — although far cheaper and lower-maintenance. We no longer fear driving our EVs anywhere we have ever driven our gasmobiles.

The Whitchurches have been driving EVs since 2016, and have no Level 2 charger at their house, which is Net Positive with Solar PV, including the cars. bit.ly/get-w-ev