The first electric Kenworth trucks arrive in Quebec

The transportation company in Monterrey that just received the first electric trucks from Kenworth in Quebec is tempted by the silent technology of these new life-size rides.

“The two trucks, the station and the electrical connections is a nearly million dollar project,” explains Marilyn Bourassa, fleet manager at Transport Bourassa, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

“They have about 250 kilometers of autonomy. We are taking stats for Kenworth residents to develop technology,”

Made in the suburbs of Seattle

These two modern orange T680E trucks from the Kenworth plant in Rayton, a suburb of Seattle, Washington, crossed America from west to east before ending in Transport Powers.

Each truck is worth $412K, but government rebates can be as high as $300,000, which can be as high as $112K per truck.

This type of vehicle is three times more expensive than the same gas-powered vehicle, so subsidies from Quebec and Ottawa are welcome.

quiet driving

No petrol, five times lower maintenance costs, regenerative brakes…Marlin Bowers is pleased with her new trucks.

Next to her, driver Eric Baudouin is dazzled with this new game in which he travels the roads of the MRC du Haut-Richelieu.

As is often the case when driving an electric car for the first time, it is the envelope of silence in the passenger compartment that catches the eye.

He also notes that mental fatigue is less powerful at the end of the day.

“The electric truck is 85% less noisy. When you enter residential areas, it is striking. It makes almost no noise,” he says.

“Driving is really different. It’s a little weird,” Eric Baudouin adds.

In the Kenworth Maska, which sold it, there are countless curious customers. “Demand is growing,” says sales manager Patrick Olivier Tremblay.

growing interest

At the Truck Association of Quebec (ACQ), its chief executive officer, Marc Cadio, asserts that electric vehicles are on the rise.

“Increasingly, our members are asking that we explore with governments subsidies and financing adapted to the value and costs of this equipment,” he asserts.

However, autonomy remains a problem. To deliver goods nearby, trucks can be practical, but traveling thousands of kilometers deep into America is something else.

“We won’t be able to get that tomorrow to get fruits and vegetables in California or do it in the Midwest. Benoit Terrain, president of Truck Stop Québec concludes with somewhat limited autonomy.

At the beginning of the year, the first electric Volvo VNR truck was delivered to Groupe Morneau, which became the first truck operating in Quebec.

Bowers Transport Company

• Establishment : 1956
• Head office : Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
• employees : 550 employees
• trucks: 225
• Trailers: 750

Source: Borassa transfer