Testing 100% Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks

The Innovative Vehicle Institute is organizing a second 100% electric heavy truck day in Mirabel on October 25.

This second information day is intended for commercial fleet managers who are considering converting part or all of their fleet to electricity. Five short conferences explaining the nature of these commercial electric vehicles and the particularities of recharging infrastructures are on the program. Three heavy trucks from Lion Electric, Volvo and Peterbilt will also be available for test drives.

For François Adam, Managing Director of the Innovative Vehicle Institute, these information days represent the first phase of a project aimed at providing fleet managers with the tools they need to make the transition to electric vehicles.

"As an extension of these information days, we want to work with interested companies to determine, with them, which commercial vehicles could gradually be converted to their electric version. Obviously, we know that access to this type of vehicle is still limited, but we want to encourage the precursors to take a stand," explained the general manager in an interview with autosphere.ca.

Five companies among those that complete the analysis process will be able to test an electric truck in real operating conditions for 30 days. All results of these analyses and tests will be shared with the park management community. According to Adam, the process of converting transportation operations to electric is a relatively long one, and companies need to address this shift now, especially since grants are still available to do so. We're talking about much more than just ordering vehicles," he says. We also have to consider electric charging stations and review uses. We're talking about making long-term strategic choices here."

According to Adam, this is a great opportunity for business park managers to think about new ways of doing business. "For example, because these vehicles are quiet, they are very suitable for night-time delivery".

The one-day event will take place at the Centre de formation du transport routier de Saint-Jérôme and interested managers can find more information and register by following this link: flotterechargeable.ca/en/evenements.