Nanaimo含羞草研究社檚 Canada Post depot is the first in the country to have an all-electric corporate delivery fleet.

The Crown corporation held a press conference Thursday, March 9, at the East Wellington Road depot, announcing that the depot will utilize 14 fully electric Ford cargo vans for collection and delivery. Canada Post is calling Nanaimo a 含羞草研究社渢est location含羞草研究社� for the all-electric 含羞草研究社渓ast-mile含羞草研究社� delivery.

含羞草研究社淭his is an important first step,含羞草研究社� said Doug Ettinger, Canada Post president and CEO. 含羞草研究社淚 think the employees here are really excited. It含羞草研究社檚 only 14 electric vehicles here, but it含羞草研究社檚 14 that we含羞草研究社檙e going to learn from. We含羞草研究社檙e going to figure out how best to charge them, how much energy they use on the local utility, how they perform. We think they含羞草研究社檙e going to perform even better than the current vehicles.含羞草研究社�

In addition to B.C., electric vehicles will be rolled out in Quebec shortly. Ettinger said provinces with 含羞草研究社渃lean electricity grids含羞草研究社� are being targeted initially.

Total costs for vehicles and infrastructure were not available, but the CEO said the vehicles are 含羞草研究社渨ell over $100,000含羞草研究社� each.

Sally Dam, Canada Post director of urban delivery strategies, said the cargo vans meet the needs of postal workers.

含羞草研究社淲e actually looked for a vehicle that had enough range for what our delivery agents are actually consuming in a day 含羞草研究社� it含羞草研究社檚 got a 68-kilowatt hour battery,含羞草研究社� said Dam.含羞草研究社� Its published range is about 190 kilometres on that 68-kilowatt hour battery, so for our delivery agents, typically a route of no more than 50 kilometres a day. So there含羞草研究社檚 more than sufficient range available on these vehicles.含羞草研究社�

Level 2 charge stations will allow the vehicles to run, according to Dam, with one station having the ability to charge two vehicles at 含羞草研究社渕edium speed.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淭hese are typical charging stations that you would find at your home 含羞草研究社� the ones that we have here are 19.2 kilowatts, and they含羞草研究社檙e shared among the two ports. But each one can deliver a power output of 9.6. So based on that 9.6 kilowatt power output, we can charge the vehicle from zero to 100 in about eight hours,含羞草研究社� said Dam.

Lessons learned in Nanaimo will benefit Canada Post outlets across the country, according to Ettinger and Dam.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e going to be using the details to test out some of those different types of scenarios of how we含羞草研究社檙e going to operate our electric fleet,含羞草研究社� Dam said. 含羞草研究社淪o determining if we are going to need to charge them on a nightly basis, how much energy are they going to be consuming on a daily basis, a lot of these data points are going to inform us of how we含羞草研究社檙e going to move forward to all of our other sites.含羞草研究社�

Ettinger said workers will be covering the same routes as previously.

含羞草研究社淛ust instead of a gas vehicle, it含羞草研究社檚 an electric vehicle, quieter in the neighbourhood, smooth ride and it含羞草研究社檒l be great for the drivers in particular,含羞草研究社� said Ettinger.

He said Canada Post has plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, with a commitment to electrifying half its national fleet of approximately 14,000 vehicles by 2030 and the entire fleet by 2040.

Sheryl Armstrong, City of Nanaimo councillor, is in favour of electrifying vehicles, but said ethical issues arise when it comes to how some of the materials were procured, particularly from Congo or Chile.

含羞草研究社淚 think it含羞草研究社檚 a very good move 含羞草研究社� I含羞草研究社檓 hoping that as we move forward to electrification in Canada that we含羞草研究社檙e ensuring that our minerals are coming from places where they含羞草研究社檙e being environmentally and ethically sourced,含羞草研究社� said Armstrong.

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含羞草研究社� Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin)

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