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January 16, 2020
News

The Innovative Vehicle Institute and Équiterre unveil tools for the successful electrification of vehicles in organizations

Montreal, January 16 – Équiterre and the Innovative Vehicle Institute (IVI) today unveiled new tools to help fleet managers make the transition to electric vehicles and organizations that want to raise employee awareness of these new issues. Supported by the Government of Quebec as part of the Action-Climat Québec program, the Plug-in Fleet project carried by IVI and the Rendez-vous branché project carried out by Équiterre have led to the creation of a guide, a brochure, a trip simulator, a savings calculator and a webinar for fleet managers.

The Innovative Vehicle Institute (IVI) created the Plug-in Fleet project to demonstrate the profitability and viability of electric fleets and to raise awareness among fleet managers and employees. A total of 30 companies across the province and more than 300 employees have tested electric vehicles as part of their job.

“Among other things, this project made it possible to identify best practices in order to offer support tools to fleet managers,” says François Adam, IVI’s Director General. The Plug-in Fleet project has had a more than positive impact, since 65% of organizations or their employees purchased electric vehicles following the trials,” says François Adam, Director General of the IVI.

For its part, the Rendez-vous branchés made it possible to reach tens of thousands of employees in some fifteen large companies and institutions across Quebec on the issue of transportation electrification. Nearly 5,000 road tests of electric vehicles and several conferences on the subject were held in these workplaces.

“The impact of these activities in terms of raising awareness is important considering that many myths and misunderstandings about electric cars persist,” said Colleen Thorpe, Executive Director of Équiterre. “Sixty-seven percent of the participants in these activities expressed an interest in acquiring this type of vehicle when they make their next purchase and 88% of participants developed a favourable opinion of these vehicles,” she adds.

“We know that the majority of Quebec’s GHGs come from the transportation sector. Given this fact, our government is committed to supporting the growth of sustainable mobility. The electrification of transportation is certainly one of the solutions to be favoured to significantly reduce our GHG emissions. By informing and accompanying vehicle fleet managers and employees of many organizations, the projects of the Institut du véhicule innovant and Équiterre have enabled many individuals and companies to appreciate, in a concrete way, the multiple benefits of electric vehicles. It is by raising awareness and mobilizing the public and businesses to change their consumption habits, among other things, that we will succeed in helping Québec achieve its major climate change objectives,” said Benoit Charette, Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change.

Subsidy programs from the various levels of government for the purchase of these vehicles facilitate the electric shift for fleet managers and the public. However, the availability of electric vehicles remains an obstacle both for the organizers of such awareness activities and for future vehicle purchasers. It remains essential to continue efforts to raise awareness and support companies in their efforts to electrify Quebec’s vehicle fleet, but it is also essential to increase the supply of these vehicles while ensuring that they contribute to reducing the size of Quebec’s vehicle fleet.

These initiatives are made possible thanks to the support of the Government of Québec and its Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, as part of Action-Climat Québec, a program financed by the Fonds Vert and based on the 2013-2020 Climate Change Action Plan.

Here is a list of the tools developed in the context of these projects and other relevant links to raise employee and fleet manager awareness of electric vehicles.

Guide :
Simulator :
Calculator :
Fleet manager brochure :