Technical and financial study of acquisition of electric vehicles – Centre national de transport avancé and the Municipalities of Plessisville, Nicolet, Amqui and Deux-Montagnes

Plessisville, Nicolet, Amqui and Deux-Montagnes are partnering with the Centre national de transport avancé (National Advanced Transportation Centre, CNTA) to study the feasibility of making their municipal fleets more environmentally responsible by incorporating electric vehicles adapted for car sharing. This initiative will enable the municipalities to reduce fossil-fuel consumption and GHG emissions, substantially decrease municipal expenditures, and improve transit in these small Quebec communities. The technical and financial study will have three parts: incorporation of electric vehicles into the municipal fleets, creation of a car-sharing service using these vehicles for residents of the partner municipalities, and CNTA development of an electric vehicle suitable for both municipal requirements and car sharing that could be used throughout Canada. The study will analyze the benefits of combining municipal, social, economic and environmental needs and objectives. The following parameters will be considered: the municipalities’ environmental objectives of improving their fleet to reduce GHG emissions and fossil-fuel consumption, the municipalities’ technical (type of use) and availability (time/usage) requirements, acquisition and use of vehicles and equipment, optimization and cost sharing of vehicles, and the potential needs of users other than the municipality. This project is based on a representative sample of various municipality types. The data and information obtained from the study conducted by the CNTA and partner municipalities may be used by any community that wants to introduce a car sharing system, given that such systems are almost nonexistent outside major urban centres. (Project description from original funding application)