The coffee shop chain’s first new Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 truck is already on the road in southwestern Ontario and another will soon go into service in the Greater Vancouver Area

Tim Hortons is taking steps to transition its heavy-duty fleet vehicles to electric with the purchase of two Volvo VNR Class 8 delivery trucks.

The iconic Canadian coffee and restaurant chain is deploying one vehicle out of its Guelph, Ont., distribution centre and the other out of its Langley, B.C., distribution centre.

“We’re really excited to now have one of the first electric transport trucks of its kind on the road here in Canada and another coming very soon,” says Axel Schwan, president of Tim Hortons.

“As part of our Tims For Good sustainability platform we’re always working on developing better solutions for how we serve our millions of guests each and every day.”

The first electric truck is already in service in southwestern Ontario, while the one to deploy in B.C. will be on the road “soon,” according to the Tim Hortons press release.

Measuring impact

Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International (RBI) owns the Tim Hortons brand, along with Burger King, Popeye Chicken and Firehouse Subs. Of the four, Tim Hortons accounted for 11.6 per cent of RBI’s emissions, according to RBI’s 2022 sustainability report.

There are over 4,000 Tim Hortons retail locations in Canada and the brand has nine distribution centres, five of which are company-owned.

The company expects its electric trucks will travel up to 100,000 kilometres per year servicing their respective regions. With an all-combustion fleet, Tim Hortons estimates its delivery vehicles use 25,000 litres of fuel each per year.

The RBI sustainability report reveals that RBI purchased the Volvo VNR trucks in “Spring 2022” and that “These trucks will further our learnings on truck electrification and how to effectively operationalize and scale this action to meet our 2030 goal.”

RBI’s 2030 goal includes:

• Transitioning at least 72 per cent of its corporate Tim Hortons truck fleet to electric models;
• Transitioning 100 per cent of the Burger King corporate car fleet to electric models; and
• Procuring 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources for its corporate-owned and directly controlled facilities globally.

Overall, RBI claims to be on track to achieve it sustainability goals.

In 2022, 38 per cent of the Burger King corporate fleet in the United States transitioned to electric. However the Volvo VNR Tim Hortons electric trucks are believed to be RBI’s first heavy-duty electric vehicle purchase and will be used to provide insight into the viability of an expanded electric medium- and heavy-duty fleet.