Retrofitted ice resurfacer project
Introduction
The retrofitted ice resurfacer project used two Zamboni 525 ice resurfacers retrofitted with electric powertrains.
The City of Vernon is the third project to complete a full year of data collection, surveys and interviews.
The Commercial Vehicle Pilots program supported this project with the two retrofits and two Level 2 chargers.
Total funding: $37,665
Project summary and data package
Project overview
Fleet details
Size: 2 vehicles
Vehicle class: Utility
Make: Zamboni
Model: 525
Use case: Ice resurfacing
Vehicle details
Range: 7.5 km
Powertrain: Battery electric
Battery capacity: 28 kWh
Weight rating: 3,040 kg
Timeline and location
When: March 2024 to March 2025
Where: Thompson / Okanagan
Key findings
Emissions and cost savings
- Avoided 7,238 kg of CO2 from operations
- Averaged 43 g of CO2 per kilometer
- Saved $2,773 on the cost of fuel
Operation and performance
- Averaged 9.8 km daily distance driven
- 4,877 km driven
- 23 km was the largest distance driven in a day
- Averaged 8.8 km daily range
- Average speed of 6.5 km/h
- Averaged 1.4 hours daily drive time
- 0.4 percent of full charge days ending with less than 10 percent state of charge (SoC)
Charging and energy
- Start of day SoC averaged 96 percent
- End of day SoC averaged 79 percent
- Averaged 11.7 hours of daily charge time
- Averaged 28 kWh of daily charged energy
- 264 kWh/100 km of energy consumed while driving
- 274 kWh/100 km of energy consumed while driving and idling
- Overall energy consumption was 300 kWh/100 km
What they learned about using ZEVs
They learned that:
- Fuel cost savings are achievable
- Although initially hesitant, drivers appreciate the benefits offered by the retrofitted electric ice resurfacers (REIRs)
- After 2-3 months of experience, most maintenance issues on the REIRs are fixed the same day
- They can use the REIRs beyond their range with daytime charging
- Air quality improved inside the ice rinks
The City of Vernon has already expanded their zero-emission fleet
Deploying the two REIRs gave them the confidence to buy a new battery-electric ice resurfacer.