FedEx Express Canada has made strides towards a greener future with the launch of its first 50 BrightDrop Zevo 600 electric delivery vehicles.
The event held in Toronto, Ontario, today was attended by high-profile figures, including Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Natural Resources, along with FedEx customers and team members.
“FedEx Express Canada is proud of the role we’re playing to help our company work toward the goal of carbon neutral operations globally by 2040,” said Dean Jamieson, vice president of operations at FedEx Express Canada, in a statement to Tesla North.
“Working with companies like BrightDrop that are helping to build these solutions, right here in our own backyard, shows how Canada is helping to bring more sustainable solutions to life across a variety of industries,” added Jamieson.
The electric vehicles (EVs) will service the cities of Toronto, Montreal, and Surrey, as part of FedEx’s initiative to minimize carbon emissions in last-mile delivery. The shift towards an all-electric, zero-emission vehicle fleet for FedEx’s parcel pickup and delivery operations aligns with the company’s ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.
Developed by General Motors (GM) and powered by GM’s Ultium Platform, the Zevo 600 electric van is optimized for last-mile deliveries, with range of up to 400 kilometers on a full charge.
The Canadian-assembled light commercial EVs will help FedEx Express Canada— a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, one of the world’s largest express transportation companies—progress towards its goal of an all-electric delivery fleet. In line with this strategy, FedEx aims for 50% of its global vehicle purchases to be electric by 2025, increasing to 100% by 2030.
The collaboration between FedEx and BrightDrop will further expand with plans to incorporate a total of 2,500 vehicles across FedEx operations in the upcoming years, which includes more than 400 vehicles already in operation in Southern California. To facilitate this transition, FedEx is implementing charging infrastructure across its Canadian facilities, with 80 charging stations already installed in the launch markets.
BrightDrop manufactures the Zevo 600s at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario, a facility that underwent a transformation into Canada’s first large-scale EV factory, thanks to GM’s investment of nearly one billion Canadian dollars.
Steve Hornyak, Chief Commercial Officer at BrightDrop, lauded FedEx as a key collaborator in the journey to reduce carbon emissions for deliveries. FedEx’s commitment to deploying Zevos in the U.S. and Canada exemplifies how the inclusion of electric vehicles can support ambitious sustainability goals and enhance the communities where we live and work.
