It is impossible to evacuate Yellowknife by electric vehicle due to lack of infrastructure

When authorities announced a mass evacuation of Yellowknife on August 16, some residents had to leave their electric cars behind. They were evacuated by plane or gasoline car because there were not enough fast charging stations on the way to Alberta.

Yellowknife resident Darcy Edgar had to choose a plane ticket to leave the city because his electric car couldn’t be recharged during the long trip.

If there were more charging stations, I would definitely consider this option.

I love my car. If I lived in a city like Edmonton or anywhere in the south, it wouldn’t be a problem, but here we don’t have the infrastructureHe says.

In 2022, the government of the Northwest Territories announced a study regarding the installation of approximately twenty charging stations. There are only two of them in Yellowknife and Hay River, which represents a distance of 480 km, which is more than many examples of E Any recharging can be dispensed with.

The homes and the vacuum of the Hay River commune, which causes a change in the capital’s tinoise, includes the access to one of the rare recharge stations in the area, which makes it impossible to replace all of them in the VE. the South.

Normally, my truck can travel about 520 km, allowing me to reach Hay River, but due to Hay River being closed, it was not possible to drive to the next charging station,” explains Ben Baird, who has lived in Yellowknife for 25 years.

So he had to evacuate his entire family in his second car, a gasoline-powered car, and left his electric truck, an F-150 Lightning, at home.

If there had been a charging station at Fort Providence, for example, a few electric cars would have easily escaped. Obviously if everyone had one, it would be a crowding point, I thinkHe said.

Level 3 charging stations are the fastest. However, it takes about 45 minutes to recharge the battery to about 75%, and that would be difficult, according to University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor William J. Dunford, increase this percentage. Speed.

The fastest [vous chargez]The more power you need, the more you need to spend on charging infrastructureHe explains, adding that doing so is more expensive in a country like Canada, where roads are long and communities are far apart.

The professor also explains that in extreme heat, as was the case for some evacuees who had to cross fires to flee to Alberta, a well-designed electric vehicle will slow down on its own to reduce the repercussions on the battery. And use less energy.

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The battery in an electric car tends to be located under the car, so driving over burning embers can be dangerous, but the same goes for a conventional car with a gas tank., defines William J. Dunford.

In December 2022, Ottawa announced new regulations requiring one-fifth of cars, sport utility vehicles and trucks sold in Canada in 2026 to be electric.

The goal is that by 2035, all new passenger vehicles sold in Canada will be electric.

With information from The Canadian Press