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Introduction

The Class 4 delivery van project used battery-electric vans for last-mile package delivery in B.C. 

Purolator is the second to complete a full year of data collection, surveys and interviews.

The Commercial Vehicle Pilots program supported this project with buying 13 vehicles and installing 13 Level 2 charging stations. 

Total funding: $410,370.81

Project summary and data package

Project overview

This project included Two Ford E-450 internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. They were included in data collection to compare emissions and energy costs. 

Fleet details

Size: 13 vehicles
Vehicle class: 4
Make: Motiv
Model: Epic-4
Use case: Package delivery

Vehicle details

Range: 240 km
Powertrain: Battery electric
Weight rating: 22,000 lbs
Capacity rating: 5,000 lbs

Timeline and location

When: April 2024 to April 2025
Where: B.C. Mainland/ Southwest

Key findings

Emissions and cost savings

  • Avoided 86,095 kg of CO2 from operations 
  • Averaged 10 g of CO2 emissions per kilometer 
  • Saved $59,539 on the cost of fuel 

Operation and performance

  • Averaged 53.1 km daily distance driven 
  • 125,363 km driven 
  • 163.6 km was the largest distance travelled in a day 
  • Averaged 170.2 km calculated range 
  • Average speed of 16.6 km/h 
  • Averaged 2.4 hours daily drive time 
  • 0.1 percent of full charge days ending with less than 10 percent state of charge (SoC) 

Charging and energy

  • Start of day SoC averaged 71 percent 
  • End of day SoC averaged 94 percent 
  • Averaged 4.3 hours of daily charge time 
  • Averaged 31 kWh of daily charged energy 
  • 57.5 kWh/100 km of energy consumed while driving 
  • 66.7 kWh/100 km of energy consumed while driving and idling 
  • Overall energy consumption was 68.1 kWh/100 km 
  • 11.7 kWh/100 km of energy regeneration while driving 

What they learned about using ZEVs

They learned that:

  • Energy costs were 6x cheaper than their equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles 
  • Drivers liked the benefits of using a zero-emission vehicle 
  • Drivers needed training to ensure a smooth transition 
  • Range in the real world can be less than what the manufacturer states 
  • Cold weather can have a significant impact on range 
  • An increase in payload can reduce range 
  • They largest issue they had was with uptime. The vehicles were down for a variety of reasons 
  • Maintain relationships with manufacturers so you can address issues as fast as possible 
  • Planning is important to ensure charging reliability 

Purolator continues their plan to invest in ZEVs for last-mile package delivery.