Vancouver Island company believes its first in Canada to use fully electric refrigeration truck
A Langford, B.C., transport company specializing in hauling food believes the newest addition to its fleet is a national first in electric vehicle technology.
"We’re the first ones in Canada to do an electric, refrigerated truck," said Coldstar Solutions Inc. CEO Kelly Hawes.
To date, Coldstar’s main focus for commercial green vehicles has been under its compressed natural gas vehicle program. It has 25 of them in its fleet, along with nine diesel trucks.
Then, while seeking options to expand during the COVID-19 pandemic, it faced significant supply chain issues – which eventually led Hawes to partner with two Canadian companies for an innovative solution to obtain the EV truck.
"It’s kind of a fun project of mine," said Hawes. "It’s taken a little over a year to put together."
Coldstar Solutions worked with a heavy-duty truck manufacturing company, Lion Electric, in Montreal to build the vehicle.
At the same time, Richmond, B.C.’s Volta Air built an electric reefer so Coldstar could introduce the refrigerated component. A special cargo box was also built with lighter and more insulated features.
The hauling truck went into service on June 1, 2022 – and driver Shane Maxwell says it’s a conversation piece on the road.
"Everywhere we go, people want to come out and talk about it," said the Coldstar employee of 10 years.
Canadian policy advisors say more vehicles like it are needed nationally.
"If Canada wants to reach its emissions targets and emissions goals, electrifying transportation will be a key part of that," said Ekta Bibra with Clean Energy Canada.
"In particular, these trucks and buses take up almost 10 per cent, at least, of our emissions nationally. So the emissions savings are really important because there’s no emissions that come from the tailpipe of these vehicles," said Bibra.
CONVERSION COSTS
The upfront cost for Coldstar to introduce its EV truck has been significant – three times the prices of a diesel version at $477,000.
The company received a $100,000 grant from the province of B.C., but didn’t qualify for one at the federal level. It also spent $77,000 on the required infrastructure for a charging station.
"This truck running five days a week, servicing the Victoria area, has cost us $354 in all of that time in hydro, which equals about just under six cents a kilometre," said Hawes. "A diesel truck doing the exact same route was costing us $134 a day."
Coldstar anticipates it’ll take six years for the truck to pay for itself. It would like to expand, potentially adding as many as two more within the next year, but the company stops short of calling for a full switch just yet.
"Whether there’s a business model for this particular truck at this price, I’m not sure we’re there yet," said Hawes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.