Quebec has inked a deal to acquire 1,229 electric buses for its streets in what is the largest electric bus acquisition project in North America.
The Quebec government will spend $1.1 billion on the project while the Canadian government will chip in an extra $780 million. Nova Bus has been awarded the contract to build the buses after a public call for tenders was issued in April 2022. As part of the deal, 25% of the content used in the buses must be sourced from Canada and final assembly also needs to be done locally.
The buses will each have a range of around 300 km (186 miles) and be used by transit agencies in Montreal, Laval, Outaouais, Sherbrooke, Longueuil, Trois-Rivières, Lévis, Quebec City, Exo, and Saguenay. The Montreal Gazette reports that the buses will represent about 25% of the total bus fleet in Quebec.
Production of the bus’s structure will be handed by the Nova Bus site in St-François-du-Lac while the vehicles will then be assembled at the existing St-Eustache plant.
Provincial Transport Ministry Geneviève Guilbault says the buses will contribute to a 930,000-tonne reduction in greenhouse gases over their 16-year lifespan.
“By investing to help Quebec transit operators purchase electric buses, we continue to fight climate change and encourage Quebec entrepreneurs who are participating in the development of the green economy of the future,” Minister of Canadian Heritage and Quebec Lieutenant The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez said. “The federal government is fully committed to supporting the green transition of our economy and we continue to deliver for Quebecers through investments that will make a real difference in their daily lives.”
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The bus is known as the LFSe+ and is capable of overhead and plug-in charging. It is powered by a modular battery pack that can be configured up to 564 kWh in capacity.
“Nova Bus is very proud to be a long-term partner of ATUQ and its members: we have delivered more than 6,000 buses in Québec since 1997,” Nova Bus president Ralph Acs added. “We are honored to continue this collaboration by supporting Quebec public transit authorities in their transition to electromobility and to be part of this new chapter we are writing together to collectively contribute to the fight against climate change.”
