{"id":490,"date":"2025-11-13T12:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/?p=490"},"modified":"2025-11-13T13:02:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:02:44","slug":"un-peu-plus-off-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/un-peu-plus-off-road\/","title":{"rendered":"A bit more \u201coff-road\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

For this trip, I decided to push things a little further and take Route 389 all the way to Labrador City. The goal: reach Fermont \u2014 a truly one-of-a-kind town \u2014 while testing my self-sufficiency setup far from regular services, surrounded by nature and vast open spaces. And this time, as an extra precaution, I even built a rooftop platform to carry a full-size spare tire. When you head into this kind of remote territory, it\u2019s better to be self-reliant in more than one way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I broke the trip into three main sections:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montr\u00e9al \u2192 Baie-Comeau<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No charging challenges here. There are now plenty of fast and ultra-fast chargers all along the route. With Plug&Charge enabled on the Circuit \u00c9lectrique network, the whole experience is almost too smooth: plug in, and it just works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baie-Comeau \u2192 Manic 5<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This section is fully paved but very winding. If you\u2019re prone to motion sickness, consider bringing some Gravol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you reach the Manic-5 dam, it\u2019s basically Disneyland for EVs: 24 kW, 50 kW, 100 kW, 180 kW, and even 320 kW chargers. It\u2019s the perfect place to top up before entering a stretch where things get a bit more\u2026 \u201cinteresting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Manic 5 \u2192 Fermont<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is the most rock\u2019n\u2019roll part of the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manic-5 \u2192 Relais Gabriel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 100 km of gravel road \u2014 sometimes well-maintained, sometimes really rough. While passing a pickup, a solid rock hit my windshield\u2026 part of the adventure, I guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Relais Gabriel, there\u2019s a charger powered entirely by solar panels with a large battery bank. It\u2019s an impressive installation \u2014 kudos to Circuit \u00c9lectrique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A small technical quirk: because the station runs exclusively on solar-charged batteries, it goes into a deep-sleep mode when not in use to avoid wasting energy. When you arrive, it genuinely looks like it\u2019s turned off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to press a dedicated activation button to manually wake it up. It then takes a few minutes to start up and check its available energy before allowing you to charge. It\u2019s a bit surprising the first time, but it\u2019s part of the charm \u2014 and the limitations \u2014 of an off-grid setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One crucial thing to remember: charging here really depends on the weather. In high season and sunny conditions, everything\u2019s fine. Off-season or after several days of rain, the station might not have enough energy to give you a full charge \u2014 or any charge at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was lucky to arrive when the batteries were topped up. I fully charged, then stayed a few days to hike in the Monts Groulx and fish in the surrounding lakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It rained almost nonstop. I relied entirely on the car\u2019s battery for heating at night (around 5\u00b0C), cooking, the fridge, Starlink\u2026 While staying parked, I used about 13% per day, which is actually quite reasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before heading toward Fermont, I returned to the station to top up again\u2026 and surprise: after several rainy days, the reserve was low. I was able to get a small boost, but anyone arriving after me probably would\u2019ve been disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So plan carefully if you\u2019re heading through that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relais Gabriel \u2192 Fire Lake<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From here, it\u2019s all pavement again \u2014 almost luxurious compared to the previous stretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road leading to the Fire Lake charging station is well signposted, but you still need to drive on a dirt road through mining facilities to reach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This charger also uses a battery reserve, but unlike Relais Gabriel, it recharges through a small connection to the Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec grid. It\u2019s a clever hybrid system. Power is limited to 36 kW\u2026 but honestly, in the middle of nowhere, 36 kW feels wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fire Lake \u2192 Fermont<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road switches back to gravel. The contrast is striking: you really feel like an electric alien in an environment dominated by pickups and massive mining trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Mont-Wright (about 20 km before Fermont), the pavement returns \u2014 finally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay in Fermont<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I set up at the local campground for a few days to explore the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for charging\u2026 let\u2019s just say it\u2019s still far from ideal. At the time of my visit, there were no chargers available in Fermont. The only option was a single ChargePoint unit in Labrador City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, I did see a new Circuit \u00c9lectrique station under construction in the parking lot next to Fermont\u2019s iconic \u201cWall.\u201d Once it\u2019s live, it will completely change the dynamics of the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This trip to Fermont reminded me how remote roads demand a very different kind of planning when driving electric. In most of Qu\u00e9bec, charging has become almost effortless, but Route 389 is still an exception where range, weather, and road conditions can really influence your journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it doable with a modern EV? Absolutely.\nIs it as easy as driving Montr\u00e9al\u2013Qu\u00e9bec on the highway? Not even close. You need to be ready for surprises, respect the limits of off-grid chargers, and accept that a few days of rain can completely change your plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that mix of adventure, technology, and isolation is exactly what makes the experience memorable. Reaching Fermont after driving through those raw landscapes gives you a real sense of accomplishment \u2014 and proves that electric mobility can take you much farther than most people imagine, as long as you stay realistic and prepared.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montreal \u2192 Fermont: how far can you rely on the charging network?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pratico-pratique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":502,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions\/502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/electric-road-trip.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}