Transcanadian journey | 20,000 km in electric auto to dispel doubts

Producer of digital content and owner of an Ioniq 5 All electric Hyundai, Patrick Nadeau found 20,000 arguments to dispel the latest doubts that persist in the electrification of light vehicles. He also has some recommendations for wildlife lovers …

“I had a real crush on the Stewart-Cassiar road [qui relie la Colombie-Britannique au Yukon]which is beautiful, and where I saw so many bear that if I stayed in this corner, I would not let children leave the house, “said, amused, the globetrotter and director of Disraeli, in Chaudière-Appalaches.

The route of… bear?

“There were bears nearby and a forest ranger asked me at what speed I could run, in case the mother, on the other side of my vehicle, decided to intervene …”

This is one of the many anecdotes that Patrick Nadeau tells after having finished his journey of almost 20,000 kilometers (round trip) between the head office of Hyundai Canada, in Markham, Ontario, and the bank of the Arctic Ocean in Tuktoyaktuk, in the Northwest Territories.

Most of his stories concern the nature, the road and the people he has crossed on the way. “From Calgary, the landscapes are grandiose,” he says. I met all kinds of animals, I almost hit a family of Grizzlys and I also saw carcajous. »»

Some adventures relate to the way in which he has been able to access recharge places in more remote places of the Rockies or the north of the continent. “In Inuvik [dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest]the circuit breaker of the hotel terminal where I lived was closed when I had 3 km of autonomy. The next terminal was 2.8 km away… ”

Overall, that said, he says he had experienced “absolutely no charging anxiety”. Even that he congratulates the CO-OP Connect network which, in the meadows to the Rockies, has set up charging sites with space for vehicles that pull a trailer, with windshield washer dispensers, a vacuum cleaner, etc.

“They understood how to attract electric vehicles,” he says.

Probably bears are held far from the public charging stations …

“Not a feat”

Patrick Nadeau’s project to cross Canada was suggested to him by the people of Hyundai Canada. The Korean manufacturer had already noticed his publications on social networks after a first journey undertaken personally between his residence in Disraeli and Puerto Vallarta, in Mexico, where he was going to join his spouse.

He had to plan his trips and stops before leaving, but his route changed along the way when he decided to create immersive virtual reality content from certain scenic places in Western Canada, such as the Ice Park’s Glaciers Promenade in Banff, Alberta. The latter is often quoted as one of the most spectacular places on the planet.

This content was created to be offered to hospitals for patients with pediatric cancers, in partnership with the organization L’Espoir on wheels than sponsor Hyundai. Virtual reality is increasingly used to soothe young patients during certain medical operations. For the specialist in immersive content that is Patrick Nadeau, it fell under the meaning.

In contrast, to have fun during the many hours spent behind the steering wheel, he put on after the other of the broom, except when the wireless networks were out of reach.

It brightened the driver on a trans -Canadian road which is often monotonous, and on which the seeds encountered were more linked to the vagaries of the weather than anything else: two backwards late because of the flood of the waters as well as forest fires have slowed it down, but that’s it.

The driver of an IONIQ 5 had, among other tips, an adapter to use the ultra -rapid NACS terminals of the Tesla charging network. More and more manufacturers are adopting them, moreover, for their vehicles sold in North America.

For Patrick Nadeau, it closes a chapter. He does not intend to go back on an adventure soon, but impatiently awaits the arrival of the Ioniq 9, more spacious than the Ioniq 5. “We can finally go with the family,” he said.