Our government wants to make Québec a world leader in the electrification of transportation. It is a milestone in the economic development of Québec. Allowing projects like this to see the day, we invest in all of Québec. In fact, it is to grow our economy by using less oil and more electricity. Québec has everything to get there. We have the unique advantage to have a clean, renewable and relatively inexpensive energy.

—Québec Premier Pauline Marois

The electric bus school will be built on the chassis of a 72-seat vehicle currently marketed by Lion Bus Inc. The body will feature the use of composite materials.

With the help of three Québec partners—TM4, B3CG Interconnect and the National Centre of Advanced Transportation—Lion Bus will develop a powertrain allowing a range of about 90 km (56 miles). A mid-day recharge will double this.

Lion Bus estimates the market potential for such as bus will increase gradually to 250 buses annually in 2018.

Under the province’s electrification strategy, the Government aims to introduce more than 12,500 additional electric vehicles on Québec roads by 2017. The strategy will include vehicles from individuals, businesses, municipalities and non-profit organizations, as well as taxis and government fleet vehicles.

Among other incentives, a project to “green” 525 taxis will be set up in Montreal and other Quebec regions. A deployment plan for 5,000 charging publicly available and distributed over the entire province will support these measures.