The latest purchase agreement between Vicinity and B.C. automotive retailer Pioneer Auto Group will see at least 1,000 VMC 1200 Class 3 electric trucks delivered by the end of 2023

Canadian electric truck and electric bus maker Vicinity Motor Corp. has snagged a purchase order worth over US$100 million for at least 1,000 of its new VMC 1200 Class 3 electric trucks.

The Aldergrove, B.C.-based automaker was chosen by Pioneer Auto Group, a retail car and truck dealer with 17 locations in B.C., to fill the purchase order by the end of 2023. First deliveries are slated for this month.

Pioneer Auto is Vicinity’s exclusive dealer in British Columbia, a relationship that was announced in January at the same time it ordered 100 of the same VMC 1200 Class 3 electric trucks in a $14-million deal, after signing a letter of intent in Nov. 2021.

As of the January announcement, deliveries were expected to begin in the second quarter. However, the first VMC 1200 trucks only started rolling off Vicinity’s assembly line in Aldergrove earlier this month. Vicinity also expects to begin producing the truck at its plant in Ferndale, Wash., by the end of the year.

“Given the simplified assembly of the VMC 1200 as compared to a transit bus, Ferndale truck capacity could reach 10,000 vehicles per year. Due to the fact we are not facing significant pressures in the VMC 1200 supply chain specifically, the VMC 1200 will prove to be a significant contributor to our 2023 revenue growth and profitability — enabling our goal of creating sustainable, long-term value creation for our shareholders,” said William Trainer, chief executive officer of Vicinity in a press release.

A growing market

With the federal government’s recently announced incentive program for commercial medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDV), interest across Canada in transitioning to electric in the sector is growing.

As of October, Vicinity’s VMC 1200 electric truck — which gets 241 km on a charge and can be used in applications including delivery trucks, dump trucks and work trucks — qualifies for the federal rebate, the company says.

“The incentive will provide approximately 50 per cent of the cost difference between traditional diesel vehicles and a zero-emission alternative,” said Trainer in July 2022 in a press statement confirming the truck’s rebate eligibility.

But B.C. — one of just two province’s in Canada offering a provincial level commercial MHDV rebate — is already a national leader in electric truck adoption.

For its part, Vicinity estimates “North American light- and medium-duty EV inventories [are] projected to top one million by 2030 and six million by 2040,” according to company press materials.

Pioneer Auto agrees that, based on what it is seeing, demand for electric trucks in Canada is growing rapidly.

“We continue to see intense customer demand for class 3 commercial EVs,” said Ray Van Empel, owner of Pioneer Auto Group, in the same press release.

“Given the wide array of federal and province level incentives for the adoption of electric vehicles, the VMC 1200 is truly a no brainer to buyers from a financial perspective.”