The Effenco company, specializing in the electrification of heavy vocational vehicles, has received a new order from the French giant Derichebourg, which is involved in the collection and recycling of waste. The Montrealer will deliver 60 new hybrid systems to their fleet of trucks by early next spring.
“This is a multi-million dollar contract,” said David Arsenault, president and co-founder of Effenco, who, however, cannot reveal the exact amount of the transaction. This new order is a pledge of confidence on the part of Derichebourg, he maintains, since the French company had already concluded an agreement. last year to electrify 157 of its vehicles, including 120 in France and 37 in Montreal.
The Montreal-based company has developed two systems, one hybrid – already installed on more than 400 trucks in circulation – and the other entirely electric. And the technology developed by the company, which relies on “supercapacitors” rather than a conventional lithium-ion battery, adapts to several types of heavy vocational vehicles, such as bucket trucks, collection, delivery, tractors, school and city buses.
“Ultimately, our hybrid system can be converted to 100% electric. What we sell to our customers is a transition to zero emissions, but we are going in stages. Our hybrid system is the gateway to full electrification, ”argues David Arsenault.
And it’s not just France that covets the technology of the Montreal company. “We won a call for tenders in New York for an order for 1,100 units. It is an order over several years. The procurement process has been turned upside down because of the pandemic, but we are at the start of deliveries, ”said Mr. Arsenault.
Encourage the electric shift
Present in more than ten countries, Effenco is generating interest abroad as the global economy takes a green turn. David Arsenault believes that, as in Europe, Quebec should also adopt better regulations to favor bidders with a better record in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in calls for tenders. “Our partner Derichebourg is winning more contracts by including our technology in their offers – so it’s a great symbiosis that we have. But there is not that dynamic in Canada. The contract is awarded to the lowest bidder, ”explains Mr. Arsenault.
“It’s more difficult to break through, when there is no requirement [environnementale] in quotes, he adds. A private operator in Quebec has no real incentive to choose green technologies, other than by conviction. But the government is on the move. I know, from the various conversations we have, that it is in the boxes, ”notes the entrepreneur, confident.