Three new stations on First Nations lands allow EV drivers to travel the 761-km route between Winnipeg and Thompson 

The installation of just three EV charging stations has opened up a stretch of northern Manitoba to all-electric travel. 

Kent Heinrich is the man behind the Northern Gateway Project, which involved the installation of three charging stations along the 761-kilometre route on Provincial Trunk Highway 6 from Winnipeg to Thompson. The locations include Fairford, Grand Rapids and Wabowden. 

Heinrich is the founder of Free Ride EV, an organization focused on accelerating electric vehicle adoption among Indigenous communities in Manitoba, supported with funding from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Most of Free Ride EV’s work involves education, but this was its first practical buildout of charging infrastructure, directly involving First Nations along the way.

No cost to communities

The chargers came at no cost to the communities, and charging is also free to EV drivers. 

Heinrich says the first idea for a northern charging corridor came at an EV forum in 2024. An attendee named Ron, who lived in Nelson House, 100 kilometres north of Thompson, was so impressed with EVs that he declared he would purchase one and drive it home. But that wasn’t possible because of a lack of chargers along the route. Heinrich’s idea was born. 

“Well, now I have a goal,” he says. “Now, let’s get it so Ron can get an EV — what do we have to do to get there?

“The initial need in Manitoba was Winnipeg North, you know, Winnipeg to Thompson. That was a big hole. That was a route that was limiting First Nations ability to even get electric vehicles.”

Both Winnipeg and Thompson already had EV charging stations. Manitoba Hydro revealed plans in November to install chargers along Highway 6 to Thompson, after the Northern Gateway Project was underway.

‘For the greater good’

The buildout for Northern Gateway began last year at the halfway point in Grand Rapids in the Misipawistik Cree Nation, where Heinrich got the go-ahead from Chief Heidi Cook to install a 50-kW DC fast charger. 

“It is for the community, but ultimately, it’s for the greater good,” Heinrich had told the chief. “It’s for the people north of you, people south of you, the people traveling and who want to use electric vehicles right now.” 

The next station to be built was Wabowden in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation, roughly 225 km north of Grand Rapids and the next suitable location for a charger before Thompson, 108 km north. Heinrich found a lodge with plenty of power, but only single-phase electricity, which was not enough for DC fast charging. 

“You make the best with what you can,” he says. “So we put in Level 2 chargers there, and we frame it as a refuge point, as a top-up point,” he says.

Solar power saves costs

The last charger build in Fairford in the Pinaymootang First Nation, 214 km north of Winnipeg and 195 km south of Grand Rapids, was the most challenging. Band councillors were concerned about the electricity demand charge, a fee based on maximum power capacity rather than power consumption. Any spike in electricity usage above 50 kW raises electricity rates, and starting up a 50-kW DC fast charger would push power over the limit. 

Around the same time, Indigenous Services Canada had a request for proposals for solar projects, and Heinrich saw an opportunity for a solution in Fairford. Solar panels powering a 212 kWh on-site battery produce enough electricity to start up the fast chargers without surpassing the demand charge limit. On an average July day, the system can support 13 hours of continuous 50 kW charging.

An example for all

Heinrich himself took the roundtrip from Winnipeg to Thompson and back in his Hyundai Ioniq 6 earlier this year. His enthusiasm for the project, and EVs in general, is apparent in his animated conversation. The idea of promoting EV adoption, especially with Indigenous communities, is personal for him.

“It falls more in line with First Nations values, … being caretakers of the Earth,” he says. “It’s a natural fit for them. And we’re hoping that other communities will follow their lead when they see that as well. 

“I’ve got 10 grandkids. I believe the science, I see it happening. And that’s the only way I can defend them is by helping give them a better place to be.”