Electric buses | A first order for Letenda

Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced on Wednesday that he has ordered four electric buses from the young company Letenda of Longueuil.

Mathieu Perreault
The Press

Mr. Scott made the announcement at the Council on International Relations of Montreal (CORIM) at the Sofitel. “This is a big announcement for us. We like to buy in Quebec,” he said in a scrum after his speech.

Letenda’s buses will be relatively small, 30 feet. “We targeted this market because most bus manufacturers make 40-footers or articulated ones,” said Nicolas Letendre, founding president of Letenda, who was present at the press conference.

Vermont received funding for five additional, larger transit buses. According to Mr. Letendre, this second contract will also be awarded to a Canadian manufacturer. Funding, over US$9 million, comes from the US federal government. The other Quebec companies involved in electric buses are Lion as well as Prevost and Novabus, two Volvo subsidiaries.

According to Letendre, who founded Letenda in 2017 and has received investments from the Quebec government and Rio Tinto Alcan, Vermont likes to buy Quebec buses because of its similar winter weather.

He believes that the market for 30-foot electric buses is popular with small municipalities and businesses that need shuttles, and that its only direct competitor is the Chinese firm BYD, which notably counts the Société de transport de Laval among its customers.

Vermont buses will be delivered by 2024. At least 70% of their components will have to be American, according to Washington funding rules.

Letenda will assemble Canadian and American components at a plant in Saguenay. The financing of this plant is not yet complete. A prototype of the electric motor will be unveiled in October at the Canadian Urban Transit Association show in Montreal.

Letenda’s goal is to use the diesel engine that provides heating as little as possible. “You can use diesel heating below 5°C and still be considered zero emissions,” says Mr. Letendre. He thinks it will be possible to go down to a lower temperature thanks to heated floors and a heated windshield.

According to Mr. Letendre, the American and Canadian market for 30-foot electric buses will in the short term be 1,000 vehicles, which will be used as commercial shuttles or for public transport.

What about Vermont? “The people of Vermont told us about their needs beyond 2024, but I prefer not to give numbers,” says Mr. Letendre.