On the road to transitioning to electric vehicles in North America
In the US and Canada, Holcim business is taking the first steps to convert to electric vehicles over the next few years in line with the company’s overarching goal to reduce indirect carbon emissions from sources like transportation (Scope 3 emissions).
In the US, Holcim announced it is working with Hyliion Holdings to leverage the company’s innovative electrified powertrain truck platform to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Hyliion’s Hypertruck ERX is a fully-electric drive vehicle that uses an onboard generator to charge the batteries, which eliminates the use of diesel fuel. Each truck has the potential to reduce well-to-wheel* greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 89% when using renewable natural gas. Ten units have been commissioned so far. If the initiative is successful, Holcim plans to expand the fleet in the future.
North of the border, throughout 2022 our Canada division will be adding at least ten electric vehicles to our operations and sales teams and kick-starting a program to support employees who would like to transition their own vehicles to electric ones.
The battery-electric vehicles will be distributed across the sales and logistics operations in British Columbia, Northern Alberta, and Southern Alberta. This initiative has the potential to eliminate 188 tons of CO2 emissions over the next 5 years. The business in Canada has also ordered two electric Semi-Tractors from Tesla in 2024. With the help of these electric vehicles, we will further eliminate carbon emissions at the source of transportation, while testing the integration of such vehicles into its fleets.
The company is also installing 90 charging stations across Canada with dual heads: 20 heads will be installed in 2022, and by the end of 2023, 100% of the charging stations will be available.
To help employees make the switch to electric vehicles, 40 of these charging stations will be installed across eleven sites in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia by the end of summer 2022. The aim is to remove barriers related to “range anxiety” (fear that a vehicle has insufficient energy storage to cover the road distance needed to reach the destination) for employees, making it easier for everyone to convert to electric vehicles. If successful, the initiative will remove approximately 280 tons of CO2 each year.
This is an exciting initiative from a sustainability and innovation standpoint because it reinforces our ambition to continuously advance towards our net-zero goals. It also helps us make an environmental statement and, consequently, attract talent and help our employees in their transition to electric vehicles.
In addition, our Canadian teams are working on an Electric Vehicle Policy for employees considering a home charger. They have also partnered with FLO, a Canadian company that currently leads the North American Charging network market, to give a 10% discount on home charger models to its employees.
By investing in emerging technology, we are ultimately generating an even greater benefit for people and the planet.
*Well-to-wheel emissions include all emissions related to fuel production, processing, distribution, and use.
