One year into a shipping ban on EVs, owners and businesses don’t see a clear road out

Southeast shipping companies say they have no plans to change their policy, as enthusiasts worry about getting vehicles to Juneau and servicing them

Electric vehicles in the Juneau Arts and Culture Center parking lot during Renewable Juneau's clean energy fair and the annual EV Roundup on Sept. 21, 2025. (Ellie Ruel / Juneau Independent)

By Pat Forgey

For the Juneau Independent

Juneau's electric vehicle enthusiasts have been among the most fervent in the nation, so far bringing about 1,000 fully electric or hybrid electric vehicles to Juneau, said Will Judy, president of the Juneau Electric Vehicle Association.

But that adoption rate may have hit a roadblock that's been making additional growth more difficult, and it shows no signs of weakening. 

Ironically, that roadblock began at sea, when a fire broke out on a huge car carrier in the Gulf of Alaska about 300 miles south of Adak on June 3, 2025.

The car carrier Morning Midas had hundreds of electric vehicles among the 3,000 it was carrying. Those ranged from fully electric to plug-in hybrids, but all were powered by lithium-ion batteries. It was those batteries that likely started a fire that burned for three weeks before the vessel eventually sank on June 24. 

The Morning Midas fire highlighted the dangers of shipping electric vehicles. 

Alaska Marine Lines, Juneau's main shipping company, almost immediately banned shipment of fully electric and plug-in hybrids. The risk of a catastrophic fire, especially at sea, was just too great, the company said.

But that left Juneau with a problem.

“It's not just getting them in,” Judy said. “It's getting them out, it's been getting them serviced.”

Juneau's only other shipping company, Sitka-based Samson Tug and Barge, isn't an alternative because it uses space on Alaska Marine Lines barges to provide its service to Juneau. That means AML's ban also applies to Samson.

In any event, Samson has a ban on carrying electric vehicles on the company's barges.  

A year after the AML ban was imposed, the company said there are no plans to change it. 

“We continue to evaluate options to mitigate the fire risk, but as of now our shipping policy remains the same — Alaska Marine Lines will not ship electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)," said Ryan Dixon, a spokesperson for Lynden Inc., AML’s parent company

Samson's ban remains in place and there are no plans to reconsider it, a company manager said.

Juneau and other Southeast communities now rely solely on the Alaska Marine Highway System.

“As far as I know, we might be the only people that do still carry them; I think AML does not, but we do two per voyage," said Gabe Strong, an AMHS spokesperson.

Those safety limits, imposed even before the Morning Midas fire, are intended to keep electric vehicles away from other vehicles.

These limits were created after AMHS Marine Director Craig Tornga brought in marine firefighting and EV firefighting experts in 2024.

Establishing the two-per-trip maximum involved a joint firefighting exercise aboard the Kennicott with the Ketchikan Fire Department to determine how many EVs were safe, Strong said. 

But while that policy allows the Columbia to carry two electric vehicles per trip, it is the only ferry currently traveling between Alaska and Bellingham, Washington, and it makes only a single trip each week. 

Those limits make expanding the fleet of electric vehicles in Juneau challenging, Judy said.

That's despite Juneau being what he called the “Goldilocks” of communities for EVs, with nearly the perfect climate.

Batteries can be less effective at extremely high and low temperatures, a problem in places such as Fairbanks or Phoenix, but not in Juneau, according to Judy. A significant portion of electric vehicle battery power is sometimes used to heat and cool the passenger compartment, and at extreme temperatures batteries can provide less power and see shorter lifespans. 

Neither the lows of Fairbanks nor the highs of Phoenix are a problem in Juneau. 

Juneau is also powered almost entirely by renewable hydropower from a network of dams around the city.

Elsewhere, there is a possibility the electricity to power a vehicle might come from coal or other fossil fuels, diminishing the environmental benefits of electric vehicles.  

“They make a lot of sense in a lot of ways for Juneau, but it is hard to get them there now,” said Strong, based out of AMHS’ headquarters in Ketchikan. 

“We like to offer that service; it's just because of the safety issues with them that we have to limit how many we can bring on a vessel," Strong said.

Along with the Columbia, space is available on state ferries that run from Haines to Juneau on a near-daily basis.

Driving the traditional highway route from elsewhere in Alaska or the Lower 48 can be a viable option for individual travelers willing to challenge weather and range anxiety, but car dealerships don't have that option.

A new electric car setting out to drive the Alaska Highway would be a used electric car by the time it arrived in Juneau.

Car dealerships instead have to truck their vehicles to Haines, then get an available ferry for shipment to Juneau or another Southeast port. They'd previously been able to use AML, rather than competing for space on a ferry's car deck.

The new shipping hurdles may slow the rate of adoption of new electric vehicles in Juneau, Judy said, but he recognizes AML's concerns.

"That's our lifeline for all of our goods and services. If an EV caught fire, however unlikely, if an EV caught fire it would be a significant impact on Juneau, and I understand that," he said.

• Pat Forgey is a longtime Alaska journalist who has written for the Juneau Empire and Anchorage Daily News. He can be contacted via editor@juneauindependent.com.