Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Arctic Road Rally?
The Arctic Road Rally is an electric vehicle technology demonstration to help drive increased EV awareness, inspire adoption, and inform infrastructure development in Alaska.
The event is all about putting EV tech through its paces – demonstrating what it can do and also identifying any areas for improvement. We believe everyone should be able to access the long-term cost savings and other benefits provided by electric vehicles, so we need these cars and trucks to be able to handle anything. Technology demonstrations like this play an important role in getting to that point.
The 2022 event took place along a 1,096-mile roundtrip route on the Dalton Highway between Fairbanks and Oliktok Point, Alaska, the northernmost drivable point in the U.S. More information about the 2023 Arctic Road Rally is coming soon.
Who is organizing this? Who is involved?
The event is organized by Launch Alaska, funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions. Generous sponsorships from more than a dozen Alaska companies supported the inaugural rally in 2022: Find a full list here.
Arctic Road Rally participants come from across Alaska and beyond, all drawn by the opportunity to drive an electric vehicle to the northernmost point in the country.
Why are events like this important?
It’s all about preparing for the future and caring for our communities. Electric vehicles decrease emissions and increase driver savings: They’re cheaper to power and maintain than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, and even when their electricity is generated by fossil fuels, they typically produce far fewer emissions than ICE cars and trucks.
Plus, technological innovation means it will soon cost less to buy an electric vehicle than an ICE car or truck, and it’s important to build the charging station infrastructure we need to make those cost savings available to everyone who wants them.
At the same time, we need to make the shift to renewable energy sources – sources that can provide the independence and climate sustainability necessary for our communities to truly thrive. Electric vehicle infrastructure can easily make the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Gas stations can’t.
Let’s talk details: How were the electric vehicles be charged during the drive?
Arctic Road Rally drivers charged their vehicles at temporary charging stations placed at multiple locations along the Dalton Highway, installed with the support of both public and private partners.
If the charging stations for this event are powered by locally available power sources that still rely on fossil fuels, how is that any better than just driving a gasoline-powered vehicle?
Even when the electricity is generated by fossil fuels, electric vehicles produce significantly fewer emissions than traditional ICE vehicles in almost all situations — it’s also cheaper at the “pump”. And even when their electricity is generated by fossil fuels, EVs are poised to be powered by renewable sources as soon as those sources are ready (like they currently are in a growing number of cities around the country).
Yes! Eventually. It’s important to develop the technology to the point where even the most challenging drives can be done safely and reliably – which is why we did the 2022 Arctic Road Rally along the Dalton Highway in August. It’s a chance to demonstrate the electric vehicles’ strengths and identify any areas in need of improvement, setting the stage for tech innovation and future demonstrations and daily use in even the most difficult conditions (think -60° Fahrenheit and blowing snow). For many Alaska EV owners, the decreased battery capacity and range of their EVs in cold weather is already more than adequate for daily driving requirements, and many report better operation and comfort than traditional vehicles.
Are there plans do this in the winter?
To get involved with an upcoming electric vehicle technology demonstration, contact Launch Alaska Transportation Lead Tim Leach at tim.leach@launchalaska.com.