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Yukon Gets Three New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations As Part of Pilot Project

Friday, 3 May 2019 16:06

One of the charging stations in Whitehorse

The federal and territorial government announced today almost $370,000 towards the installation of three electric charging stations in southwestern Yukon.

The federal and territorial government announced today almost $370,000 towards the installation of three electronic charging stations in southwestern Yukon.

The stations are part of a three-year pilot project to see how well electric vehicles perform in a cold climate, and two of the stations will be installed in front of the Visitor Information Centre and NorthLight Innovation building in Whitehorse while the other will be constructed at the Carcross/Tagish First Nation Learning Centre in Carcross.

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell says the pilot project will help the government investigate how to make electronic vehicles more practical in the territory as  they gain in popularity.

"We could've just decided that we were going to give out money everywhere for charging stations, but there are parts of the country in rural areas  where it's -40 below and  they're not just going to jump out and do that since they don't know if it'll work. So, having this demonstration project in the Yukon will show that it really works in various seasons and show that it can be implemented across the entire country."

Yukon Deputy Premier Ranj Pillai says the first charging stations were chosen wisely to see how the electric vehicles perform throughout the different seasons.

"According to Natural Resources Canada, the ideal distance between chargers is approximately 65 kilometres. Locating a charger in Carcross seems like an absolute natural fit.  With Carcross located roughly midway to the ocean, a charging station in the community can serve  as a bridge for the future electrical vehicle drivers arriving from the Alaska Marine Highway in Skagway. The two downtown locations were chosen because their accessible and convenient."

Minister of Highways and Public Works Richard Mostyn also says Yukon infrastructure is already being critiqued to accommodate more charging stations for future electric vehicles.

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