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Greater Toronto Area

The Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) is celebrating 20 years of clean air and climate solutions. Over the past two decades, TAF has been involved in numerous successful ventures to help improve air quality and to reduce the climate footprint and energy costs of our city, including deep lake water cooling, home energy retrofit incentives, conversion of traffic signals to LEDs, energy efficient street lighting and solar water heating for pools and buildings.

FleetWise EV300

Recognizing that cars and light trucks contribute more than a quarter of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions and smog-causing pollution, TAF has spent the last four years dedicating resources to sustainable transportation options, including electric vehicles. In 2010, TAF launched the FleetWise EV300 program, providing innovative decision support tools for public and private fleets in the Greater Toronto Area to reduce their emissions by procuring, driving, charging, evaluating & promoting electric vehicles.

FleetWise EV300 offers fleet partners the following decision support tools:

FleetCarma: This software tool analyzes information from a data logger in a conventional fleet vehicle to help a fleet identify both its suitability for EV replacement and the best potential EV fit – before the purchase order is made.

EValuation Calculator: A robust, customizable return on investment calculator that helps a fleet examine the total cost of ownership of an electric vehicle to best determine the business case for purchase.

eDriver Training: A customized training course to help fleet staff educate their drivers about the benefits of EVs and help them to maximize the performance of their electric vehicle through real-world examples.

Procurement Support: FleetWise EV300 has established agreements with five major auto makers to provide our partners with guaranteed access to electric vehicles.

FleetWise EV300 is working with over 30 fleet, vehicle manufacturer, utility, and strategic partners and, by then end of Fall 2011, we expect to have at least 40 electric vehicles on GTA streets through our program.

This program is a great way for organizations to explore the potential benefits of electric vehicles without the risks of a “go it alone” approach. Economies of scale and knowledge sharing are just some of the benefits of our joint approach to procuring, maintaining and monitoring electric vehicles. FleetWise EV300 will also give us the influence to address practical and policy barriers to electric vehicle procurement and use, thereby significantly leveraging the value of each organization’s individual investment.

Other TAF supported EV projects:

  • The Toronto Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Pilot, designed to test the fuel economy and emissions performance of PHEV technology in public and private fleets (July 2009 Report)
  • A Hybrid Taxi Pilot to determine the business and environmental case for the adoption of hybrid taxi cabs in Toronto (October 2009 Report)
  • Development of a Green Vehicle Evaluation & Selection Tool by the City of Toronto Fleet Services to help monitor and evaluate the performance of low-emission vehicles and assist with purchasing policies and decisions (http://www.toronto.ca/fleet/)
  • Support to Pollution Probe, a local ENGO, to work with experts and stakeholders to identify the main elements that would comprise an effective Electric Mobility Master Plan for the City of Toronto (http://www.pollutionprobe.org/PDFs/EMMP.pdf)
  • TAF is actively participating in federal, provincial and municipal consultations on EVs, smart grid applications and green fleet planning

Contact

For more information or to get involved in FleetWise EV300, please contact Ben Marans at 416 393 6367 or bmarans@tafund.org