Toronto, Ontario — Stellantis considers following Ford and GM’s lead in adopting NACS charging, FedEx Express Canada receives its first round of BrightDrop delivery vehicles and a Quebec company is out preaching the word of hydrogen power. This is the latest in electric and autonomous vehicles.
Peer pressure
Stellantis says it is currently weighing out the pros and cons of the NACS (North American Charging Standard) following recent announcements that fellow legacy OEMs Ford and General Motors will adopt the standard.
“At this time, we continue to evaluate the NACS standard and look forward to discussing more in the future,” read a statement from Stellantis to Reuters, apparently feeling the pressure of two-thirds of the Detroit Three agreeing to getting involved with Tesla’s charging network.
With GM and Ford’s endorsement of the NACS, Tesla’s formerly proprietary charging system will occupy 60 percent of the U.S. EV market through its partnerships alone, according to Reuters.
BrightDropped
FedEx Express Canada just received its first order of 50 BrightDrop Zevo 600 electric delivery vehicles at an event in Toronto.
This fresh fleet of Ontario-built vehicles for FedEx are built on General Motors’ Ultium battery platform, boasting ranges of up to 400 kilometres, are set to service the Toronto, Montreal and Surrey, B.C. markets.
“FedEx Express Canada is proud of the role we’re playing to help our company work toward the goal of carbon neutral operations globally by 2040,” said Dean Jamieson, v-p of operations at FedEx Express Canada.
To support the new vehicle technology, FedEx says it is installing charging infrastructure across its Canadian facilities, including the 80 charging stations the company has already installed in these three EV launch markets.
Hyping up hydrogen
A Quebec-based hydrogen energy advocacy group got its hands on a trio of hydrogen-powered Hyundai NEXOs to show off at the Grand Prix Festival on Crescent Street in Montreal this past week.
Charbone Hydrogen intends on using the vehicles in demonstrations of hydrogen mobility across the country, as well as in the promotion of a new deal with Filgo-Sonic Group to establish a hydrogen charging network in Canada.
“Charbone is so excited with the partnership with Hyundai Canada” said Charbone CEO and chairman Dave B. Gagnon. “We are eager to receive the cars and drive them around the Montreal region to showcase the concept of hydrogen. This is also an opportunity to show there is no reduction of autonomy in winter with alternate fuel.”
