Vincent Couture and Élyse Peloquin spent three weeks touring Newfoundland in their electric vehicle, but say they faced challenges due to the charging network below par. (Patrick Butler / CBC-Radio Canada)
A Quebec man who travels around Newfoundland in his electric vehicle says the rated charging network was designed for challenging driving, repeating a call shared by local drivers – the need for more chargers.
Vincent Couture and Élyse Peloquin spent the last three weeks in Newfoundland visiting Riviera du Lou, QC. They came to the countryside in their Chevrolet Volt, a hybrid vehicle that has an electric charge of about four hours.
The car managed to run on battery power on the Trans Canada highway, where dozens of fast charging stations have been set up, but Couture says going to tourist areas such as L’Anse aux Meadows and the Burin Peninsula is a challenge.
“There are almost no chargers in the villages, it’s pretty hard to find,” he told CBC News on Monday, adding that he has to use gasoline for about 95 percent of his driving time.
Couture said the problem was highlighted in St. John’s, where there were only three chargers compatible with his vehicle in the city – Signal Hill, a hotel and parking lot he could not find.
He called the chargers’ places “inappropriate”, saying more attention should be paid to placing chargers in accessible spaces and high-traffic areas.
“You have to spend time around the chargers. It takes up to four hours with our car and eight to nine hours with some other cars,” he said.
“You’re in captivity, so I don’t want to be in captivity on the Trans Canada Highway. I want to be in captivity on St. John’s, I want to be in captivity on Quidi See.”
John Siri, co-founder of the non-profit group Drive Electric NL, says he has heard similar concerns from tourists.
“We spend a lot of time with people who have contacted us wanting to tour the countryside in their electric cars to help them find routes and places that would be good to charge,” he said.
John Siri is a co-founder of Drive Electric NL and has been driving all-electric vehicles since 2016. He says the province’s electric vehicle infrastructure has grown in recent years, but is still about five years behind places like Quebec. (Patrick Butler / CBC-Radio Canada)
Seary hopes the issue of charging will be resolved as municipalities and the province work to add more stations in the coming months.
The provincial government will soon add nineteen more fast-charging stations across the province, while the city of St. John recently approved a proposal to add 22 new second-level chargers to their infrastructure.
It is also important for businesses and communities to keep electric vehicles in mind when it comes to tourist planning, Siari said, as drivers who already use electric vehicles are likely to bring their own vehicle to the countryside.
“The chargers will be used by visitors to your property, your province, visitors to your city,” he said.
“Where would you like to stop and explore and spend, you know, 15, 20 minutes, 45 minutes?” Do you want them to go out on the highway? Or would you like to have them in your city, in your city, where you have your restaurants, your parks, your recreation areas, the places you want to show off? “
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
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