Burlington Hydro Takes Delivery of First EV in Commercial Fleet Application in Canada

City of Burlington Mayor Cam Jackson and Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Brad Duguid with the Burlington Hydro REV EV. Click to enlarge.

Burlington Hydro Inc. (Ontario, Canada) has taken delivery of the first all-electric vehicle to be used in a commercial fleet application in Canada—the REV 300 ACX (a retrofit Ford Escape). The vehicle will be used in a demonstration project that will study the operating characteristics of an all-electric fleet in practical, real-world working conditions.

The demonstration project will entail a one-year study that will be conducted by the University of Waterloo with funding from Transport Canada. It is designed to increase understanding of the operating characteristics of an all-electric fleet vehicle, including recharging patterns and requirements; how to optimize the usage and recharging cycle in a “real life” setting; overall performance, drive-cycle, battery state-of-health; and electricity grid impacts.

The motor and drive system technology of the vehicle was developed specifically for fleet applications by REV, or Rapid Electric Vehicle Technologies Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia. (Earlier post.) The REV ACX features a 160-kilometer range (99-mile), and a top speed of 144 km/h (89 mph).

The REV ACX drive train uses a 125 kW AC permanent magnet motor and single speed eGearDrive system. Charge time is 3.8 to 5 hours at 240V. REV will also provide on-board smart-grid and wireless telemetry capabilities, integrated data management and charging infrastructure.

The University of Waterloo will also develop assessment and management tools to assist with the integration of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) into the electricity grid. The study will be supervised by Roydon Fraser, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Michael Fowler, Associate professor of Chemical Engineering, over the period commencing February 2010 and ending February 2011. The findings of this study will be useful to designers and prospective operators of electrified fleet vehicles.

Burlington Hydro believes “hub and spoke” fleets, like the one it operates, potentially represent the best opportunity for initial widespread vehicle electrification. Hub and spoke fleets typically operate from a central point and deploy vehicles within a fixed region, or geographic boundaries, with predictable usage patterns. They are therefore ideal in respect to the opportunity to centralize re-charging infrastructure