Bolting across Newfoundland
Now that we have driven across Canada in the all-electric Chevy Bolt, we thought we would give brief report on how it was driving across each province both there and back.
We thought we would start with Newfoundland an incredible province that we would definitely like to visit again for more exploring.
Let’s begin with the driving conditions. Be prepared for lots of hills, road surfaces that have deep pot holes and very few electric vehicle charging stations.
The rugged and often desolate terrain is an awesome sight but with the limited infrastructure for electric vehicles, drivers need to be focused on getting to their destination. Due to the marine climate, weather conditions may include fog and heavy rainfall. Newfoundland also has the strongest winds in Canada. EV drivers may find themselves on lonely roads driving into gusting headwinds.
We found that the hills knocked the range down. We found ourselves often driving against heavy head winds. In order to extend our range we chose to do slow. Buddy used cruise control settings to go up and down hills without using the accelerator pedal. By hypermiling he was able to conserve energy used to travel.
Averaging highway speed of 85 to 90, Buddy made sure not to impede anyone’s progress by pulling over to shoulder and putting 4 ways on. A reminder here to readers that charging opportunities are few and far between and often there are no alternatives, so the goal was not to win the race but to make it to the finish line.
There is usually lots of room to pull over on the shoulder area. Here is some areas of erosion on some of the slopes so it is necessary to be watchful. People drive fast in Newfoundland and it is less stressful to let them go by instead of watching battery range disappear by not driving conservatively.
The Bolt handed the curvy roads well and the ride was stable. It was easy to dart and dodge the pot holes scattered along the highway. The car proved to be peppy accelerating readily to match the challenges. The car has great suspension and was a rewarding drive.
Buddy recommends the Newfoundland drive as it is a drive with variety and challenges that make driving interesting. The scenery is beautiful and changing throughout the province.
