THUNDER BAY – The city unveiled the first two electric vehicles that it's adding to its fleet on Thursday.
The city’s new vehicles are Ford Lightning pickup trucks that are fully electric with zero emissions. City officials said the new vehicles will reduce carbon emissions from the light vehicle fleet by 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
The new trucks will be utilized by the transit division for road patrols, inspections, and supporting transit operations. They will replace two gas-powered pickups that used roughly 5,400 gallons of fuel per year.
Doug Glena, manager of fleet services, said the city was able to secure funding from the federal and provincial governments, which paid 73 percent. The city is covering the rest through its gas tax.
“The city taxpayer didn't shoulder the sole responsibility. The responsibility went across the country as a whole,” he said.
"It will give us the opportunity to trial these vehicles, look at their performance especially in the winter, and then move forward with more electric vehicles where it makes sense to do so.
"We did a lot of research on these trucks. Regina has had a Ford Lightning for over a year now - they've had decent performance in the winter time with them,” Glena said.
“They're set up to run 500 kilometres on average. We will get some extra battery decline with them being in the winter but they should be able to heat just fine."
Current River Ward Coun. Andrew Foulds said the new vehicles are another example that shows the City of Thunder Bay is demonstrating leadership when it comes to the environment.
“We have for a very, very long time, taken climate change and sustainability very seriously and this is one more example on how this city continues to lead in the north, across the province and across the nation. I'm very proud to be here today,” he said.
“I think our city has taken on a lot of initiatives that move the city towards net zero and climate adaptation. This is one step in perhaps a bit of a marathon when it comes to the total electrification of our fleet, and that's the ultimate goal.”
Prior to the trucks being added to the fleet, the city has installed two chargers in the transit garage.
Additional electric vehicles are planned to be added to the fleet in the future.
