A MAN DROVE A TESLA TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN, BECOMING THE FIRST TO DO SO IN DEAD OF WINTER
Aspiring filmmaker Jonathan Zoes has become the second person to drive an electric vehicle to the Arctic Ocean — but the first to do so in -40C temperatures of an Arctic winter.
Deciding to test the technology while documenting his journey, Zoes leased the Telsa and drove through Canada to Tuktoyaktuk, relying on the help of strangers to plug in the vehicle once charging stations became harder to find.
In an interview with Northern News Services Limited, he said finding charging stations was easy in the southern part of his drive. Once he reached northern British Columbia, he used RV parks to plug in. The Yukon territory has also been rapidly building charging stations.
Travelling further north, he had to plan ahead and call on strangers for help. He told the northern media outlet an Indigenous council in Profit River let him use their maintenance building for the night to charge up. To cross the Dempster Highway, which has no gas stations for more than 300 kilometres, he befriended road crews who let him use their garages.
In Fort McPherson, he was able to get another charge from LJ’s Contracting. To travel the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktyuk Highway, he jury-rigged a charging station. Other than one night in Eagle Plains, he also slept in the warmth of his car.
The technology works, Zoes said, and will only get better.
2023-03-18T18:48:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd