Lesson from Yellowknife

Vincent J. Curtis

17 Aug 23

It’s 1450 km from Yellowknife, NT, to Edmonton, AB, the closest place that can accommodate the 22,000 evacuees from the capital city of the Northwest Territories.  There’s one highway, and it’s not a particularly good one, and there’s little in the way of amenities along the way.  The people of Yellowknife have been told to self-rescue along this highway to Alberta, if possible.

Luckily, most people of Yellowknife have access to a vehicle that’s gasoline or diesel powered.  These vehicles can go 500 to 700 km without refuelling, and the process of refuelling takes less than five minutes.  The one gas station between Yellowknife and the Alberta border has fuel, and gasoline tankers and tow trucks are being stationed along the way to make sure the evacuation convoy proceeds smoothly.

The plan to abolish the sale of fossil fueled vehicles and have an all EV passenger fleet would make this evacuation impossible.  EVs will forever lack the range and the rapidity or refueling or recharging that gas- and diesel- powered vehicles have.  In addition, there simply isn’t the electric power along the route to recharge thousands of vehicles all at once, and there never will be.  The world outside of Ottawa and Toronto is nothing likfe Ottawa or Toronto.

The Yellowknife evacuation demonstrates the folly of abolishing the sale of gas and diesel powered private motor vehicles.

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