Electric car sales are on the rise across the country – according to Statistics Canada, zero-emission vehicle registrations had risen 27 per cent by the end of June, over last year.
But that trend hasn’t extended to the Yukon, where the number of new electric vehicle registrations has been dropping since 2024.
Now, some travellers are saying the lack of dependable EV infrastructure in the territory could affect tourism.
In places like Gibsons, B.C., north of Vancouver, many have come to expect EV chargers will be available wherever they drive.
“Here I see local municipalities are by and large transitioning to electric vehicles,” said Gibsons resident Chael MacArthur. “Absolutely every second person is driving an electric vehicle in this town. Local guys at the Chevy say they sell more Bolts than anything else.”
MacArthur drove with his family through northern B.C. to the Yukon in August, in an electric vehicle – something he says is straightforward to do across the south of the province.
“When you stop at EV chargers in many towns, they're next to the library and the grocery store,” he said. “And you have this kind of lovely little 30 minute break where you're not going to the bathroom in, like, a gas station bathroom. It's a public park washroom where your kid gets to play in the swings and it's lovely.”
MacArthur said his experience in the Yukon was with either “trickle” Level 1 chargers, which requires many hours to charge the car, or broken or unreliable Level 2 chargers. He wonders if more Yukoners would make the switch if the infrastructure had caught up to B.C.
'It’s definitely going to affect tourism'
When the Yukon government announced in 2019 it was installing three EV chargers, the territory was ahead of the curve. But travellers say of the many chargers that are now available, not all are reliable.
Grant Sullivan also drove from B.C. into the Yukon this past summer. He says the difference crossing the border into the territory was striking.
“The B.C. side is phenomenal now, like it is really, really well established,” he said. “There’s chargers every 100 kilometres, all fast chargers."
But he described the area from Dease Lake, B.C., to Teslin, Yukon, as a “dead zone” for functioning chargers that created a lineup of drivers at the next available EV charging station, which was not operating at full capacity.
Sullivan says the EV charging phone line and Yukon government were helpful in troubleshooting the problem, but the situation took hours to resolve.
“It’s definitely going to affect tourism if people are waiting there for days to charge,” he said.
Janet So, a researcher with the British Columbia Institute of Technology, was recently in Whitehorse hosting the educational event "Charging Forward" – a project funded by a federal program that encourages the switch to electric cars.
The event offered music, free hot dogs, and a chance to test drive electric cars. So said it also offers her a chance to bust common myths and misconceptions about electric vehicles.
“I think a big one is that EVs don’t work in the North because it’s cold,” she said. “And it’s true that electric vehicles will lose some range. But a lot of the modern electric vehicle models have quite a long range, like 400 to 500 kilometres.
“So even if you lose some, you’re still able to go around town. Electric vehicles also start every time. With gas vehicles, you need to warm them up. Sometimes they don’t start.”
Still, she says electric vehicles have been slower to catch on in northern, rural and Indigenous communities – and the lack of reliable infrastructure doesn’t help.
“We need buy-in from government and also private businesses,” said So. “But I think it’s a little bit of a chicken-and-egg problem too. Like, if they don’t see the vehicles on the road, they’re not going to be looking at putting more chargers out there.”
For Whitehorse resident Ralph McBryan, who is 6’8", the main concern was whether he would fit inside one. But after resolving that issue, he says switching to an electric vehicle has made his life far simpler.
“You don’t have to visit a gas station if you don’t want to,” he said. “You can just put a Level 2 charger in your home and you’re good to go.”
McBryan says any lack of highway chargers doesn’t bother him; the range after charging is also fairly extensive, and he is able to get from Whitehorse to Haines Junction and back with a home charge, even in wintertime.
“The amount of time I actually spend driving down the highway and back up is very limited,” he said. “The rest of my time is spent just going back and forth to work, from our farm into town. It’s a short drive, 30 or 40 kilometres.”
McBryan believes rising gas prices will soon convince more Yukoners to make a change.
