Can you drive across Labrador in an EV? We tackle the remote frontier
A road trip across Labrador is a serious undertaking – even more so in an electric vehicle. The long highway through the remote wilderness is one of the last great challenges for electric-vehicle adoption in Canada.
I drove here in an all-electric Toyota bZ Woodland, just to see if it can be done. Toyota claims the mid-size SUV has an estimated range of 452 kilometres from its 74.7-kilowatt-hour battery, which should be enough in summer temperatures for the vast distances between charging stations. Even so, I travelled with others in a gas-powered Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, for backup just in case.
On paper – or a screen, at least – the journey looks straightforward, except for the absence of quick-and-easy Tesla chargers north of the St. Lawrence River and east of Quebec City. From the provincial capital, you drive 400 kilometres to Baie-Comeau, then 585 kilometres north on Quebec’s Highway 389 to Labrador City and another 530 kilometres east to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. This was the original end of the Trans-Labrador Highway and as far east as you could drive on the Canadian mainland (if you consider Cape Breton to still be an island). It’s as far as I travelled on this journey.
The highway is now completely paved from Goose Bay to the coast – another 620 kilometres to the car ferry, which takes you over to the island’s Great Northern Peninsula. It’s an alternative route to The Rock that adds about 800 kilometres to the already long drive from Montreal to St. John’s. The Newfoundland Department of Transportation estimates an average of 259 vehicles of all types drive each day on the road between Labrador City and Goose Bay, and just 146 vehicles drive on the road between Goose Bay and the Labrador South Coast.
There’s not a lot to see along the way except trees and lakes. The massive Daniel-Johnson hydro dam, better known as Manic 5, sits a couple of hours north of Baie-Comeau and stands as the most impressive man-made monument along the way. Of course, you can argue that much of southern Labrador’s landscape is also man-made, flooded extensively in the last century to create the hydro generation that powers most of the grid for North America’s entire northeast.
Reaching Manic 5 was straightforward. We charged the Toyota at a Circuit électrique station capable of delivering up to 320 kilowatts across two ports. It’s an isolated place far from Rogers’ cellphone coverage, but the station offered Wi-Fi to connect to the Circuit électrique app – I couldn’t just swipe a credit card. It seemed appropriate to charge beneath a dam generating a massive 2,660 megawatts of clean and renewable energy. I thought the electricity might be cheaper for it, but at the public station, the rates varied between 44 cents and 62 cents per kilowatt-hour, depending on how much was transferred.
That’s the reality about road-tripping in an EV: you’re probably dependent on public charging and its premium pricing, which is sometimes close to the equivalent of filling up a gas tank to travel the same distance. I learned this on a long trip across Ontario last year.
It’s 350 kilometres from the dam to the next grid-based fast charger at Fermont, Que., close to the provincial border with Labrador. The road is more challenging here, with gravel and construction for 100 kilometres before giving way to smooth asphalt for a couple of hours. By the time we pulled into a lonely gas station and rest stop with a fast charger, the rough terrain had dragged the Toyota’s battery down to 70 per cent. We paused to top up the charge to 80 per cent, just to be sure. On such a remote road, it’s wise to never pass by an available charger.
The station was powered by an array of solar panels, with its energy stored in batteries that filled four large containers. It’s capable of fully charging two EVs before slowly replenishing itself. A sign asked us to not use this as our main charge – to not deplete the supply for others. The extra 40 kilometres of range it gave the Toyota, after 15 minutes of charging at 49 kilowatts, cost just more than three dollars at 38 cents a kilowatt-hour, and gave us peace of mind needed to safely reach Fermont.
We needed that peace of mind because the last 65 kilometres to the town twisted through winding, rutted gravel and dirt, enough to provide the experience that adventure-touring travellers seek. Almost the entire highway was like this until around 15 years ago, but now the road across Labrador itself is completely paved.
Across the provincial border at Labrador City, gasoline had spiked to $2.12 a litre, up from $1.90 at Baie-Comeau. We pressed eastward the next day and recharged at Churchill Falls, again near the site of massive hydro generation. There was no wait to plug in at the charger – in 2025, it was used just 47 times, down from 73 sessions the previous year.
We saw from the SUV’s trip computer that we should have 80 kilometres of charge remaining on arrival in Goose Bay, after completing the final 290-kilometre leg. That’s based on my driving style and a long way short of the range Toyota claims, even with the temperature at 21C, but we continued on without a care for the remaining stretch.
Except that it soon began to rain, and dirty spray kicked up from the highway frequently disabled the sensors for the SUV’s cruise control. Whenever that happened – usually for 10 minutes or so until the sensors cleared – my speed would inadvertently creep beyond the 80 kilometres an hour speed limit on the long, straight highway, almost to a speed that might warrant a ticket. When we arrived at the charger in Goose Bay, the EV had only 4 per cent, or 15 kilometres, of range remaining. It had consumed power at an average 22.4 kilowatt-hours every 100 kilometres, instead of the 19.2 of the previous day, or the 17.1 of the leisurely drive to Baie-Comeau.
“An extra 10 kilometres per hour will chew up about an extra 20 per cent of your power,” Jon Seary told me later when I recounted the close call. He’s a co-founder of Drive Electric NL, a non-profit that advocates for electric vehicles in Newfoundland and Labrador. “If you want to extend your range, just slow down a little bit. If you really want to extend your range, stick it at 80 kilometres per hour and you’ll go much farther.”
A more relaxed speed is key to conquering the Trans-Labrador Highway in an EV. The next chargers south of Goose Bay are a trio of Level 2 9.6-kilowatt units at Penney’s Pit Stop in Port Hope Simpson, 420 kilometres down the road, with another 200 kilometres after that to continue to the ferry. Drivers typically plan to stay the night while their cars charge, said owner Charlene Penney when I phoned to enquire, and she provides accommodation and meals, as well as local handicrafts and basic supplies. In the summer tourist season, she estimates two or three vehicles a week use the chargers.
That number might have been higher, except an application from Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to install solar-powered, 120-kilowatt chargers at Port Hope Simpson and near the ferry at L’Anse-au-Loup was turned down last December.
“The Board has concerns,” wrote the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities in its denial of approval. “This system is primarily served by diesel generation and, as already discussed, additional EV charging infrastructure can serve to increase EV charging which can put upward pressure on the load on the system. ... The Board is concerned that load increases on the Labrador Isolated System could lead to increased fuel costs, additional capacity needs and upward pressure on the rural deficit.”
No new plans have been submitted for additional fast chargers along the route. They’re unlikely to make money for the providers because operators aim for a utilization rate of 15-to-20 per cent on any given day to turn a profit. According to a recent report from charging analytics company Paren, the Canadian average utilization rate slipped to 9.5 per cent this past spring, with only Vancouver and Toronto showing profitable usage. While demand is growing – the fast charger at Goose Bay more than doubled its usage last year from 2024 to 196 sessions, and Labrador City’s station nearly doubled to 267 – those numbers are still far short of profitability.
The bZ Woodland contributed $162.10 to the Quebec and Labrador charging companies over the course of our 1,600-kilometre road trip. It consumed 328 kilowatt-hours of power and we spent six hours parked at seven charging stations, often while eating a meal and preparing for the long road ahead. If you drive an EV and want to take the alternative route to Newfoundland, make sure your vehicle has a generous range and be prepared to slow down. Take your time and pack plenty of snacks and bug spray. It’s still an adventure.
