Ontario Northland is quietly testing an electric coach bus between Sudbury, North Bay, Sault-Ste. Marie, Ottawa and Toronto

Travellers in Northern Ontario may soon have a new, clean way to get around.

Ontario Northland, a provincial Crown corporation, is piloting an electric bus on short- and long-haul routes between Sault-Ste. Marie, Toronto and Ottawa to see how — and if — the technology can be integrated into the transportation provider’s fleet.

The research started about a year ago, says Naeem Farooqi, founder and CEO of Ontario-based solution provider FleetZero, in an interview with Electric Autonomy. In 2023, FleetZero won a contract to consult with Ontario Northland about incorporating EVs into its fleet. The firm is in charge of executing and collecting data from the pilot to inform Ontario Northland’s future electrification plans.

After months of assessment, preparation and vehicle procurement, regular road testing on multiple routes has been underway since August.

“The pilot is running pretty smoothly,” says Farooqi.

“The idea, once the vehicle can complete [the routes], is to create a rollout plan and [determine] the infrastructure requirements. Once we have confirmation of that, we will then move into ‘How do you transition the fleet, the stakeholders and the operators to this electric vehicle?'”

Unique routes in Northern Ontario

Ontario Northland operates passenger and freight trains and buses between Toronto, St. James Bay, Ottawa and Kenora.

The transportation commission offers the only year-round rail link to First Nation communities in the St. James Bay area. In all, Ontario Northland vehicles travel 4.9 million kilometres annually.

The remote nature of the routes and long distances with skimpy public charging infrastructure, make Ontario Northland a desirable partner to test electric coaches.

Some findings are already clear.

“One of the lessons we’re learning is that a vigorous private [charging] network would be needed to support this transition,” says Farooqi.

Assessing electric coach bus needs

FleetZero’s involvement in Ontario Northland’s electric coach bus pilot has been intensive.

In order to get to the point of on-road tests, the solution provider engaged with Ontario Northland and electric vehicle vendors, aggregating duty-cycle and performance data from both and presenting the best options to Ontario Northland for the pilot.

“We use a bunch of different tools that we have in our company, starting with Fleet Shift. Fleet Shift is a range and power demand tool. We simulate (using digital twin) the vehicle range and understand how far it can go and how much energy is going to consume,” explains Farooqi.

The vehicle that FleetZero ultimately identified as suitable for this pilot included the Temsa electric coach. It’s a Turkish-made vehicle with 400 kilometre range and 800 volt architecture.

In addition to its vehicle needs assessment, FleetZero offers workshops and training modules. They also provide information about accessing subsidies and grants to carry out studies or purchase vehicles.

And accessing subsidies is particularly important for adoption. Farooqi estimates the current cost difference between a diesel and electric coach bus is between $300,000 to $600,000.

Future electrification goals

In addition to piloting electric coach buses, Ontario Northland is also testing a Ford F-150 Lightning truck in Cochrane since 2023.

“This is a great pilot program that will draw a lot of good intelligence to confirm the viability of this new technology,” said Martin Bizier, Operations and Capital Projects Analyst, in a 2023 article about the Lightning pilot.

As well, Ontario Northland is working with Queens University to study regenerative braking and its potential application in rail transportation.

FleetZero, for its part, is continuing to provide solution services and assessments to fleets across North America. They are also tentatively embracing a new facet of the role: raising awareness with the public that these initiatives are happening in their communities.

“There’s a level of excitement the general public has when they are seeing these vehicles,” says Sherena Hussain, COO of FleetZero.

“Getting stakeholder engaged and developing that social license can be really critical as you’re thinking about making these big decisions to electrify or even begin to introduce a few vehicles that then starts that journey to electrify one’s fleet.”