All-electric Nova Bus vehicles hit Montreal streets
- By SUZANNE MOORE News Editor
- May 26, 2017
MONTREAL — The first all-electric Nova Bus buses are in service, just north of the border in Montreal.
The city is the first in North America to put them on the road.
The three vehicles come from Nova Bus factories in Saint-Eustache and Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec, but that's still great news for Plattsburgh, North Country Chamber of Commerce President Garry Douglas said.
"Nova Bus sees a strategic opportunity in North America for leading an almost inevitable transition to electric bus fleets," he said.
"This deployment in Montreal, a major North American city, is bound to draw attention in the American market, where Nova plans to actively promote its readiness to help U.S. customers move in this direction.
"The Plattsburgh plant is fully prepared to produce electric buses here and has already done so. This was a topic of recent meetings in Washington and has truly major potential for Nova Bus and its North Country suppliers.
CITY MOBILITY
The buses, acquired by the Société de transport de Montréal with financial support from the Green Fund of the Government of Quebec, are part of the Montreal City Mobility project," said a press release from Nova Bus.
The project is a result of the Quebec Transport Electrification Action Plan 2015-2020.
Nova Bus, a member of the Volvo Group, is responsible for the development of the buses and will support the the Société de transport throughout the evaluation of the project, according to the release.
"It is a great feeling for our team to be part of changing our world, making it a greener place and helping our commuters travel with great comfort and peace of mind,” said Ralph Acs, president of Nova Bus and Prevost divisions and senior vice president of Business Region Americas, in a statement.
The City Mobility program is an initiative of Volvo and Nova Bus that is already established elsewhere in the world.
The aim, said the release, is to "make Montreal a showcase for technologies associated with electromobility."
"We congratulate Nova Bus on its leading role in this exciting, cutting-edge development and look forward to continuing to work with them to spread the word in the States," Douglas said.