The EBeetle left Quebec City this morning at the crack of dawn.
Merci beaucoup Mario and family for your wonderful hospitality and taking care of Ricky, Colin and Bandit!!
The first pit stop today is Edmundston (Riverside RV Park) around 10:45. After a 6 to 7 hour stop, the car will travel on to Fredericton (Hartt Island RV Resort) and should arrive around 9:00PM
The EBeetle team is very fortunate to have the incredible hospitality of Mario Villeneuve and his family. Mario is Enseignant en Électronique Industrielle, Technologies du Génie Électrique, Cégep Limoilou. He took time out from his busy schedule yesterday to arrange a visit to his College and show the team around the fascinating sites of Quebec City.
It looks like Hurricane Earl’s intensity is diminishing and hopefully the good people ahead in the Maritimes will be spared it’s wrath.
We are looking forward to advancing towards the Maritimes Sunday morning.
After spending a wonderful evening with Alain St-Yves and his family, the boys said their good byes and were off for a brief tour around Old Montreal. Thanks Alain and your family for your awesome hospitality!
Alain, thanks too for submitting the following photos
This is a familiar shot to me of Bandit…the passenger floor of the EBeetle has become her special place to stay out of the limelight and be respectful of campgrounds that need dogs to be on a leash. She is a very bright Border Collie that understands every word you say to her!!!
Sure looks like the EBeetle is headed in the right direction. Check out all those poor folks stuck in gridlock headed the other way spewing out tons of CO2 because they are not driving electric vehicles that don’t need to run an internal combustion engine when stopped.
With the threat of Hurricane Earl on everyones mind, it is nice to pause a bit and enjoy the wonderful things to see in this part of Quebec.
Always conscious of the battery pack capacity needed to get to the next destination, it was off to Quebec City in time to connect with Mario Villeneuve and his family. Mario is another EV enthusiast who proudly drives his Zen everyday. There is much to see in and around Quebec City. Mario teaches engineering and the plan for tomorrow is to take the EBeetle out to the college to show it to any staff and students that may be interested.
We are reticent to go on too far now because it looks like Monday is the soonest and safest day we will be able to go to Halifax.
In view of the danger in driving into the region (i.e., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) where Hurricane Earl is expect to come through on Saturday, Ricky and Colin have decided to stay in Quebec for the time being and wait out the passage of the storm. We expect they will spend today in Montreal enjoying the sites of the city and then drive up to Quebec City tomorrow for some additional touring. All going well they will head out for Halifax on Sunday morning with an arrival scheduled for Monday afternoon or evening.
I think this is a sensible decision for their own safety and for that of the car. The only risk we face is that the hurricane leaves the power off for an extended time and we are unable to complete the journey – but them’s the breaks if that happens. Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed for the team.
Below is a picture of the projected direction which Earl is expect to follow:
Today marks the 30th Anniversary of Terry Fox abandoning his Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research across Canada near Thunder Bay. He made it half way and eventually died of cancer shortly thereafter.
In honour of Terry who was a true Canadian-hero, The UBC Thunderbird Robotics Electric Car Club has decided to donate all future donations to our Drive to Electrify the Nation to the Terry Fox Foundation. It is only fitting that as we finish what Terry started 30 years ago that our efforts contribute to the fight against cancer. Please click on the sidebar link to our paypal account at the top right of this page
Please fill in all your information and we will see that a suitable tax receipt is sent to you.
The team should arrive at the next pit stop by 3:30PM Our gracious hosts Terry and Ruth have agreed to help us out and get the EBeetle charged and on it’s way to Montreal. All their 50Amp sites are booked so we have to take advantage of a window of opportunity until their next “50 Amp” guests arrive.
Thanks much to Terry and Ruth for all your help!!
Next stop the Famille Barabé St-Yves in Valleyfield. Alain St-Yves has come to our rescue and offered to host the team and get it charged overnight. Alain is an awesome resource and active in http://www.vehiculevert.org/ Please check this great website out when you get a minute.
Good Morning to all EBeetle fans
Ricky, Colin and Bandit are on track to be at the Parliament Buildings by noon if not sooner.
It is now 9:45 Eastern Time and they about 100km from Ottawa. They will stop for something to eat and may be at the Parliament Buildings as soon as 11AM
After the visit to the Parliament buildings the EBeetle will head to Camp Hither Hills at 5227 Banks St. in Ottawa for a charge to get to Montreal.
Thanks to all for coming out to meet and greet the team and for your support along the way
Well, as we suffered the Pacific Pineapple Express today here in rainy Vancouver, Ricky, Colin, Sparky and the eBeetle were sweltering in 33°C temperatures in humid Toronto. Apparently that hot weather is going to continue all the way to Quebec, and then as we enter the Maritimes, things are going to change. In fact the change may be more than we would normally anticipate for the rainy Atlantic coast at this time of year.
Hurricane Earl is currently out in the mid-Atlantic headed towards the US seaboard where it is expected to turn north and arrive in Halifax on Saturday. So it is a good thing we are now planning to arrive on Friday in advance of the onslaught.
We’re trying to figure out if the boys should leave immediately and try to race the winds and rain back to Quebec or simply hole up in a nice hotel and wait it out.
We’re not sure what strategy is best so why don’t we ask our readers to choose. Please leave a comment voting for one or the other option:
A. Stay in Halifax until Earl has passed
B. Race back to Quebec as fast as possible
Let’s hear what you think.
We will attempt to make Halifax by September 3 – a total of 14 days
Here is the proposed schedule which may be modified as circumstances beyond our control occur:
Aug 31 Day 11 Stage 1 286 km Toronto DEP 6:00pm - Ivy Lea KOA ARR 9:30pm Over-night charging at the Thousand Islands
Sept 1 Day 12 Stage 1 175 km Ivy Lea KOA DEP 6:30am - Ottawa ARR 9:00am eBeetle on Parliament Hill Charging at .... 11am til 3:00pm Stage 2 169 km Ottawa DEP 3:00pm - Valleyfield ARR 5:30pm Overnight charging in Valleyfield
Sept 2 Day 13 Stage 1a 25 km Valleyfield DEP 5:30am - Mount Royal ARR 6:30am Photo Ops on the Mountain Stage 1b 253 km Montreal DEP 8:30am - Quebec City ARR 11:30am Photo Ops in Old Quebec, General Assembly, Plains of Abraham Stage 1c 20 km Quebec City DEP 12:30pm - KOA Quebec City ARR 1:00pm - St. Nicolas Charging at the KOA Quebec City 1:00pm - 4:30pm Stage 2 207 km KOA Quebec City DEP 4:30pm - Riviere de Loup ARR 7:30pm Charging at the .... 7:30pm - 10:30pm Stage 3 180 km Riviere de Loup DEP 10:30pm - Grand Falls, NB ARR 12:45am Over-night charging at Falls and Gorge Camping
Sept 3
Day 14
Stage 1 213 km Grand Falls DEP 5:30am
- Fredericton ARR 8:15am
Charging at Woolastook Park 8:15am to 12:15pm
Stage 2 177 km Fredericton DEP 12:15pm
- Moncton ARR 2:30pm
Photo Ops at Magnetic Hill - 2:30pm - 3:00pm
Charging at Pine Ridge Campground 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Stage 3 256 km Moncton DEP 7:00pm
Halifax ARR 10:00pm