350 Canada Post depots across Canada will eventually be upgraded to meet the needs of their new electric vehicles, with the Nanaimo depot being one of the first. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

greener mail

Mail delivery in Nanaimo goes electric

Mar 9, 2023 | 2:37 PM

NANAIMO — Canada Post has unveiled its new electric-powered delivery vehicles, with Nanaimo being the first in Canada to swap out its entire fleet from gas to electricity.

President and CEO of Canada Post Doug Ettinger said the Harbour City was chosen for several reasons, including the temperate climate.

“When you charge them, they can take you between 150-190 kilometres on a full charge, and we’re thinking about winter, how’s winter going to affect the batteries? But all the routes here are 50 kilometres or less, so we know that we’re probably good, we can charge them overnight, it takes about eight hours to charge them.”

Canada Post owns the Nanaimo depot, making infrastructure upgrades easier for the crown corporation.

Fourteen electric cargo vans will service Nanaimo, with 100 electric vehicles in total being rolled out country-wide. The rest are currently being used in five depots across Quebec.

Santa Surprise

Santa and helper elf bringing Christmas miracles to Nanaimo

40m ago

Class action

Claims open in $12.5M class-action settlement over WestJet baggage fees

21h ago

Fill the Boots

Oceanside fire departments converge for annual Fill the Boots fundraiser

Nov 16, 2024

President and CEO of Canada Post Doug Ettinger said the new electric vehicles have 350 cubic feet of space inside, slightly larger than their gas powered fleet. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

B.C. and Quebec were picked as the first provinces to use their electric vehicles by Canada Post, thanks in part to our greener electricity grids.

B.C. runs on biomass generation and hydroelectricity, while Quebec is mostly hydro.

Ettinger said they’ve been working on this transition for a number of years.

“We put aside a billion dollars over the next several years to convert half of our fleet, and by the way, we have one of the largest stand-alone fleets in Canada, 14,000 vehicles, half of those converted to electric by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2040 to reduce greenhouse gases.”

The Nanaimo Canada Post depot, located at 1847 East Wellington Rd, is already equipped with a number of duel charging stations, meaning two vehicles can be charged at the same time using one station. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Canada Post’s fleet of Nanaimo-based gas vehicles will replace other gas-powered delivery vans which have aged out across the country.

Ettinger said while each cargo-style van has a price tag north of $100,000, these vehicles have an estimated shelf-life of at least 20 years.

“There’s new technology coming in all the time in terms of the batteries and technology, so these happen to be Ford, the first 100 we got is from Ford. We will be inviting other companies to come in and present what they have.”

Acting Mayor and councillor Sheryl Armstrong was also on hand and said while she is “very concerned” about the batteries being ethically sourced, she said this is a significant step in their plans for a greener future.

“Nanaimo is committed to going carbon neutral. We’ve adopted the doughnut economy, so this fits right into the doughnut economy and what the majority of Council believes in.”

Canada Post will monitor how the new vehicles fare on the mid-Island and are prepared to make adjustments based on the results of this first phase of turning their entire fleet electric.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow