Canada Post Goes Electric
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As one of the largest transportation fleets in Canada, Canada Post is taking every step to be more environmental. On April 5th, 2011, they unveiled the eStar, the first of four all-electric vehicles built for them by Navistar, an American manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks. The eStar has a range of 160 km per charge, and only takes six to eight hours to fully recharge.
Canada Post has long desired to electrify their fleet. According to Deepak Chopra, the new president and CEO, part of the company’s commitment to the environment is a plan “to evaluate and proceed with alternate fuel technologies that will offer us a return on investment. Our trucks are in every neighbourhood in the country every day, and we take pride in our efforts to deliver to our customers in an environmentally responsible way.”
The eStar has been purposely built for electric power and has zero tailpipe emissions. It also possesses a quick-change cassette-type battery that can be switched in 20 minutes to allow for non-stop business operations.
It has taken only slightly over a year for the eStar to go from a concept truck to a reality. The key moment in its history came when President Obama visited Navistar’s manufacturing plant in Indiana to announce a $39.2 million federal stimulus grant to build electric trucks. Two years later, the eStar is now being used by such companies as FedEx, UPS, and now Canada Post.
With the electric-vehicle market ready to explode, Canada Post’s decision to adopt the eStar couldn’t have come at a better time, and it may well prove an important precedent for other shipping and delivery companies in Canada.
