Canada Post announced on Thursday the first depot to use all-electric delivery vans will be in British Columbia. The company is the Canadian equivalent of the United States Postal Service in America.
The Nanaimo depot on Vancouver Island will utilize 14 all-electric Ford E-Transit vans and be a test pilot for delivery to Canadians.
The crown corporation run by the Government of Canada wants to electrify its last mile fleet, while it also plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. By 2030, Canada Post plans to electrify half of its national fleet of approximately 14,000 vehicles, with a 100% goals set for 2040.
“Last year, the Corporation set aside more than $1 billion to cut emissions and move forward on the electrification of its last mile fleet. This critical investment has led to important progress on Canada Post’s plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” said Suromitra Sanatani, Chair of the Board of Directors, in a statement. “Canadians expect their postal service to play a leading role in the country’s transition to a low-carbon future. It’s a responsibility that Canada Post embraces.”
“Over Canada Post’s long history, the postal service has always evolved to meet the changing needs of Canadians and businesses,” said Doug Ettinger, President and CEO of Canada Post.
“Our transformation plan invests billions of dollars into service, capacity and greening our operations – because we need to deliver for Canadians, whether that’s shipping parcels or helping to build a more sustainable future. When you look at the size of our network, this depot may be a small first step, but it’s an important one as we start to build momentum,” added Ettinger.
Canada Post says it is electrifying vehicles at select plants and depots. It’s also testing other clean forms of transportation such as e-cargo trikes and low-speed electric cargo vehicles for some neighbourhood delivery routes.
The crown corporation says its Albert Jackson Processing Centre in Scarborough, Ontario, will eventually operate as net zero and have the capacity to process more than a million packages a day.
Yesterday, Canada Post unveiled its custom-built electric vehicle by Morgan Olson, the C250. The demo EV truck was revealed at the Work Truck Week tradeshow in Indianapolis, Indiana, by both organizations.
C250 Electric Truck
As for the USPS, it announced late last month it plans to purchase 9,250 Commercial-off-the-shelf battery electric vehicles and 14,000 EV charging stations.