The Quebec brewer is leveraging federal and provincial incentives to purchase the Volvo VNR electric trucks

Labatt Breweries is incorporating 10 Volvo VNR electric trucks into its fleet, the Quebec brewer announced this week.

In a $5.47 million purchase, Labatt secured the batch of electric trucks to operate out of its Montreal and Bois-des-Filion distribution centres. The vehicles will average between 50 to 110 kilometres, daily, and have a range of 280 km.

“Integrating electric trucks into our fleet marks a significant milestone for our operations and our goal to deliver beer to our customers in the most efficient way possible,” said Sarah Genetti, senior director of procurement and sustainability at Labatt Breweries of Canada, in a press release.

Earlier this year Labatt announced it had adopted its first electric repair service truck in Quebec, supplied by Lion Electric. The Lion6 truck operates in Montreal and provides roadside assistance services, including mechanical adjustments, battery boost, tire repairs, fuel delivery and replacement parts.

Leveraging grants

In order to purchase the 10 electric trucks, Labatt secured and stacked electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicle purchase incentives from both the Quebec and federal governments.

The province’s grant ($875,000) was distributed by the now-paused Écocamionnage “Part 1 – Acquisition of technologies” program. (The electric service repair truck also received a $143,750 incentive through Écocamionnage.)

The federal purchase incentive ($750,000) for the 10 trucks comes from the Incentives for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emissions Vehicles (iMHZEV) program.

In total, the acquisition cost nearly $7.1 million.

Emission savings

According to Labatt, each of their 10 electric trucks will eliminate the emissions of nearly six combustion vehicles.

“This initiative is one additional step toward our global ambition of achieving net-zero emissions across our business by 2040 and reflects our commitment to adopting innovative solutions that reduce our carbon footprint,” said Genetti.

Labatt does not disclose their anticipated fuel savings from the electric truck fleet. However, they specify the fleet will be supported by depot charging infrastructure.

The Montreal deport has three single-port and two dual-port stations, while Bois-des-Filion has one single-port and two dual-port stations. All the charging stations are ABB Terra 54 and Terra 124 models.