This Matters is pleased to publish episodes of the Toronto Star's podcast, Road Trip: Electric Avenues, every Saturday. The next episode will be available next week here, or already in the Road Trip feed. 

Toronto Star photographer Steve Russell and climate change reporter Marco Chown Oved went on a road trip through northern Ontario in the dead of winter. It was cold, blizzarding and icy. They travelled 2,300 km during the coldest week of the year. And they did it in an electric vehicle (EV).

Sudbury, Ont., has some of the richest nickel deposits in the world and is already supplying some battery makers. In the future, Canadian nickel could replace the critical minerals needed for the huge batteries that power EVs, which currently come from some pretty awful places.

Join us for Episode 1 and a trip 2.5 km underground in one of Canada’s oldest mines.