Purolator launches $1 billion plan to buy electric last-mile delivery vehicles

The parcel carrier Purolator Inc. will invest approximately $1 billion to electrify its Canadian network over the next seven years, marking the single largest network investment in its 63-year history in an effort to boost its environmental sustainability, the firm said today.

The Toronto-based courier said it will spend more than $100 million on the plan in 2023 alone. For its investment, the company expects to add over 100 all-electric vehicles to its fleet this year and an additional 150 in 2024. The new fleet will comprise Ford E-Transit, Motiv Power Systems EPIC4, and BrightDrop Zevo 600 models.

Those battery-powered trucks will include 25 Ford E-Transit vans in London, Ont.; Richmond, B.C.; and Quebec City. A further 55 Motiv and 15 BrightDrop models, along with several low-speed vehicles and electric cargo bikes (e-bikes), will be added later this year.

Overall, the firm will purchase more than 3,500 fully electric last-mile delivery vehicles—accounting for 60% of its total fleet—and electrify more than 60 terminals across Canada. Purolator also says it will charge the vehicles with green power, reducing emissions from electricity generation by 100% through the use of renewable sources and by diverting more than 70% of its waste from landfill.

By choosing the Ford E-Transit model of electric delivery truck, Purolator will be using the same vehicle as the U.S. Postal Service, which last month ordered 9,250 of the units. That contract was part of USPS’ plan to buy at least 66,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as part of its 106,000-truck acquisition plan by 2028.