Toronto, Ontario — Toronto unveils its first-ever autonomous bus, a Quebec ride-hailing company revives its services and GM nears its Hummer EV reveal in this week’s EV/AV Report.
Autonomous Olli
The City of Toronto’s first-ever automated, driverless shuttle was unveiled last week. The bus will run a route from a Scarborough neighborhood to the Rouge Hill GO Station for a six to 12 month trial period.
The bus–affectionately named Olli—can seat up to eight passengers, is wheelchair accessible and provides both audio and visual announcements.
The single automated vehicle being used for the pilot project will cater to Scarborough residents living in a transit dead-zone and transport them to the Rouge Hill GO station.
According to Scarborough Rouge Park councillor Jennifer McKelvie, the more use the bus gets in the trial period, the higher the likelihood that the city implements more projects like the autonomous Olli.
“Success will be based on ridership and it will be in showing residents are comfortable in using this new technology and ultimately they’re taking it to the Rouge Hill GO station so that they can use it for their commute daily to work.”
Teo takes up task
Teo Taxi, a Quebec company that abruptly ceased operations in Jan. 2019, is back the streets.
Pierre Karl, a businessman who has taken over Taxelco, Teo Taxi’s parent company, announced the return last Thursday. The company plans to have a fleet of 55 electric vehicles on Montreal and Gatineau roads, with 50 alloted to the Montreal region and five others to Gatineau and he Outaouais region.
Under the province’s Bill 17, Téo Taxi will be able to establish itself wherever it wants in the province. Its drivers will be self-employed, whereas they were previously unionized before the company ended operations in 2019.
Citing the “vision” of the Taxelco co-founder Alexandre Taillefer, Péladeau added that the company wanted “to make available 120 new Teo electric vehicles per year to thus become the largest fleet of electric taxis in Canada.”
Head’s up; the Hummer’s here
Tomorrow, Oct. 20, General Motors will unveil the all-new 2022 GMC Hummer EV Sport Utility Truck, reviving the brand that was discontinued in 2010.
Originally slated for May, the reveal was pushed back to the pandemic and will be held on Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. EST.
In addition to impressive on-road performance, GM also claims the new Hummer will offer outstanding off-road capabilities as well. The vehicle also uses GM’s Ultium battery technology, and production is slated to take place at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant.
