Lion, a manufacturer of all-electric school buses and minibuses, on Monday joined the list of players in the ever-crowding electric Class 8 commercial truck field.
The Lion Electric Co., revealed last May at Michelin‘s Movin’ On summit in Montreal its all-electric 26-foot minibus. The eLionM is a 160 kWh vehicle, custom-built with a low-floor for the paratransit, transit and urban segments. It features a range of 150 miles on a single charge. The electric motor offers up the equivalent of 200 horsepower.
The company says its Lion8 truck will be commercialized later this year with first deliveries headed to Société des Alcools du Québec (SAQ), a provincial Crown corporation in Quebec responsible for the trade of alcoholic beverages within the province.
“We are very proud that The Lion Electric Co. is ready to commercially launch its first all-electric Class 8 urban truck now. Day after day, the expertise, passion, and vision of our partners, suppliers, and employees continue to impress me,” says Marc Bédard, Founder and CEO, The Lion Electric Co. “Thanks to them and the industry that fully supports the electrification of transportation, we were able to make possible what everyone said was impossible.”
Lion has the largest fleet of all-electric Type C school buses in North America, having already deployed more than 150 eLionC school buses and logged more than a million miles.
The Lion8 features a range of up to 250 miles on a single charge and offers an “80 percent energy cost reduction,” the company says. Lion8 components require little maintenance, driving down operational costs upwards of 60 percent according to the company.
Lion says it already has orders and committed buyers for the Lion8, including from SAQ. The first units are available for reserve with a $5,000. Deposits for additional units are $1000 each.
“SAQ is proud to be the first company that will operate innovative vehicles on our roads,” says Édith Walcott, manager for SAQ’s Montreal and Quebec City distribution centers. “This purchase is completely in line with our transportation sustainable development plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gases.”
