EV trip to Timmins

Modern EV’s require all sorts of metals that must be dug out of the ground. What better way to explore this than a roadtrip into Northern Ontario. So lets hit the road on a 2000 km adventure and see where the minerals within my Nissan Leaf might have came from.

We took this trip in our 2018 Nissan Leaf S with Chademo fast charging. Fast charging really extends the reach of the leaf as discussed in this post https://electriccaradventures.ca/2021/09/28/how-many-km-day-can-i-get-from-my-ev/. We divided the trip into five segments: North Bay, Ivanhoe Lake, Pancake Bay, Manitoulin Island and Tobermory.

Toronto to North Bay. We took the DVP-404 out of the city then hwy 12, as its a little shorter and slower than Hwy 400. We stopped in Gravenhurst (about 180 km North of Toronto) at the Ivy station near the Sobey’s in Gravenhurst. We figured if there was a charging problem there, alternatives would be a L2 charger in Bracebridge or the next Ivy up the road in Huntsville. But no matter, the Gravenhurst Ivy station has three chargers which all had functioning Chademo connectors, although at the time one station had a broken CCS connector. After a refreshment stop at a nearby Tim Hortons, and some last minute grocery shopping at Sobey’s, the car was already 80% charged, more than enough for the remaining 180 km to North Bay. But then the kids demanded a visit to Dolarama. Some more shopping ensued and now the car was at 95%, plenty. We arrived just in time for a quick swim at the Best Western North Bay hotel and conference center. The Best Western has a J1772 L2 charger, but just in case, I brought my L1 wall charger as there are several power outlets along the exterior of the building we could have used in a pinch.

After a few days in North Bay, it was time to explore further North, we decided to stay overnight at Tenniskanning shores (there is a Holiday inn with an Ivy station in the parking lot). This was mostly so that we could explore Cobalt, ON which has a lovely silver trail (https://heritagesilvertrail.ca/10-00-hst.html) with about a dozen stops exploring the history of mining. It was interesting to see what it takes to extract the minerals required for modern EV batteries. Mining mostly came to an end in the mid 1900’s. The mines themselves have been mostly reclaimed by nature, but the remains of the McKinley-Darragh mill are taking longer to grow in a reminder that ore processing also takes a toll on our planet.

We fully charged the car, and after a restful night we continued on to Timmins, stopping briefly at Jack Finlay Motors in Matheson. They do have a well stocked convenience store and after browsing the aisles for 30 minutes or so it was time to head on towards Timmins. We toured around Timmins for a bit, enjoying the hands on virtual mining tour at the Timmins Museum National Exhibition. Mining is a lot harder than it looks, as my son discovered blasting his virtual dynamite far to early. A quick charge at the Ivy station in Timmins, and we were off to Ivanhoe Lake campground.

Ivanhoe lake is a wonderful spot to recharge. The lake provides ample opportunities for paddling (and fishing). We used the TT-30 RV connection to charge up at the campground, and after a few days enjoying the lake it was time to drive on. This was the longest leg with very limited charging opportunities. There are several motels in Chapleu with some L1 charging which we could have used in a pinch. But the leaf made it the 237 km to the petroCan EV charger in Wawa. As discussed in a previous post (https://electriccaradventures.ca/2021/09/01/range-how-far-can-you-go-in-that-thing/) we can get a lot more range out of the Leaf by simply slowing down. So I set the cruise control to 65 km/hr to give myself ample margin and I made it to the Wawa petrocan charger with about 20 % charge left, plenty. Thankfully traffic along Hwy 101 was very light, and I pulled over as soon as I could to let passing traffic go by.

The three provincial parks along the east shore of lake superior (Lake superior provincial park, Pancake bay and Batchawana bay) are simply stunning. Amazing that 10 % of the worlds freshwater reserves are in Lake Superior alone. The bushplane museum in Sault Ste Marie is well worth a visit.

The drive from Pancake bay to Manatoulin required a single charge stop in Blind River. But somehow, we wound up stopping at three, (the Ivy stations in Sault Ste Marie, and Blind River) as well as the Petro Canada station in Espanola. Not that the car had to stop, but the kids got hungry, and there was a grocery store nearby in Espanola. Sadly for my surf hungry kids, during our stay in Providence bay the winds stayed quiet. No matter the Huron Sands Inn offered excellent food, and an EV charger thats free to use for guests.

Last stop of the tour was Tobermory. Its a magical place, and the Tugs in Little tub harbour are amazing. You can just swim out and explore the four shipwreks that lie there, in the crystal clear waters. After a restful few days in Tobermory, it was time to head back to the city, stopping in Owen sound at the Ivy station to recharge the car, and nearby Tim’s to recharge ourselves.

Overall, my 2000 km road-trip proved to me that long EV roadtrips are quite possible. You do need to plan it out a little more carefully than in a gas-car, but that’s no reason to miss out on all the wonderful things Ontario has to offer.