OPG joins EV100 group, pledges commitment to electric vehicle fleet

OPG wants to help make electric transport the new normal by 2030.

The company recently became the first Canadian member to join EV100, a campaign launched by the Climate Group, an international non-profit devoted to fighting climate change.

The EV100 initiative currently consists of 31 companies – which include HP and Ikea – that have publicly committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and cutting millions of tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year.

To reach its EV100 target, OPG will transition its fleet of over 400 vehicles, where technically and economically feasible, by 2030. It is also in the process of installing charging points across its sites.

“The goal is that by 2030, most of our vehicle fleet will be converted to electric, with the necessary charging infrastructure at our facilities and possibly across Ontario,” said Tyler Seed, Program Coordinator for Electrification Development at OPG. “The other part of the effort is to raise awareness among OPG employees so that they will consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase. We are doing this by incorporating EVs into our fleet and facilitating access to workplace charging.”

In Ontario, transportation accounts for approximately 30 per cent of GHG emissions. Electric transport offers a major solution in cutting carbon emissions as well as curbing transport related air and noise pollution.

With businesses owning over half of all registered vehicles on the road, the Climate Group believes companies have the opportunity to lead the shift to EVs.

Currently, OPG has 29 EVs in its fleet, most of them hybrids. These include Chevrolet Volts and a Bolt, as well as several Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid SUVs. In addition, 52 charging ports have been installed across OPG sites, and that number continues to grow.

In 2018, OPG’s electric fleet saved 3,180 litres of gasoline, travelled more than 53,000 kilometres and saved more than 7,000 kilograms in GHG emissions, or the equivalent of 180 trees growing for 10 years. Over the same period, OPG’s workplace chargers displaced over 13,000 litres of gasoline and saved over 30,000 kilograms of GHG emissions.

In 2019, OPG is planning to test electric boats as well as electric pick-up trucks, and continue to explore options to further electrify its fleet.

It’s all part of OPG’s broader effort to help support the electrification of Ontario’s transportation sector with clean, reliable power.

“Ontario’s mix of power is diverse, secure, and among the least carbon-intensive in the world at a cost that is very competitive,” said Jeff Lyash, former OPG President and CEO. “This gives the province a strong platform to use its clean electricity to replace carbon-heavy power sources in other industries, like the transportation sector, which is currently Ontario’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions.”