Regional Electric Car-Sharing System: The SAUVér Project

Ten Quebec municipalities:

• Ville de Carleton-sur-Mer
• Communauté maritime des Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• Ville de Maniwaki
• MRC de Pontiac
• Municipalité de Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu
• Ville de Saint-Constant
• Municipalité de Saint-Fulgence
• Ville de Mercier
• Municipalité de Saint-Siméon
• Ville de Varennes

Ten Quebec municipalities are introducing electric vehicles into their fleets—vehicles that will also be shared with the community. It is all part of an innovative program called the SAUVéR project.

The transportation sector produces a significant portion of municipal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making electric vehicles a promising local climate solution. The SAUVéR project (Système d'autopartage de véhicules électriques en région) already involves six Quebec municipalities, and they will be joined by 10 new participants.

With a grant from FCM’s Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program, each of the ten municipalities will introduce one electric vehicle into its fleet. On evenings and weekends, when not being used by municipal staff, the electric vehicles will be available to community members through a new car-sharing system. The municipalities will set up charging stations, with the aim of creating a “green route” so that electric vehicles can travel longer distances and be charged at multiple stations along the route.

The new car-sharing program will provide access to an affordable form of transportation in communities underserved by public transit and taxis. The project is also an opportunity for the municipalities to optimize the use of their fleets. Many municipal vehicles are only in use part time, and sometimes larger vehicles like trucks are used unnecessarily. This can result in inefficiencies and unnecessary maintenance and depreciation costs. Optimizing the fleets will reduce the total number of municipal vehicles required and lower vehicle usage costs.

The municipalities plan to have the new vehicles in place and the car sharing systems and charging stations up and running by late 2020. 

Project details

• Project: Regional electric car-sharing system: The SAUVéR project (Système d'autopartage de véhicules électriques en région)
• Sector: Transportation
• Grant amount: $750,000
• Lead entity: City of Varennes

Primary objectives

• Reduce corporate and community GHG emissions by replacing conventional vehicles with electric vehicles.
• Minimize energy consumption by introducing energy-efficient vehicles (e.g. replacing trucks with compact electric vehicles).
• Optimize the use of the municipal fleet, to reduce vehicle usage and depreciation costs.
• Generate revenue through the car-sharing program.
• Provide an affordable transportation solution through the car-sharing program and encourage the adoption of car sharing in the community.
• Encourage and support the adoption of electric transportation in the community by providing a shared electric car and charging stations.
• Create a “green route,” to encourage broader adoption of electric transportation options in the region.

By the numbers

• 50–99.8% annual reduction in GHG emissions with the use of the new electric vehicles compared to the same distance travelled by conventional vehicles
• 45–83% annual savings in fuel costs compared to conventional vehicles
• 10 electric vehicles introduced into municipal fleets and communities—one in each participating municipality
• 17 charging stations
• $81,180–109,620 in direct and indirect economic benefits annually

Project activities

• Acquire 10 electric vehicles (one per municipality).
• Install 17 charging stations that can be adapted over the long term (10 years) to meet the changing needs of municipalities.
• Set up car-sharing systems for the new electric cars to be available to community members on evenings and weekends.

Resources

• Dix municipalités offriront un autopartage de véhicules électriques (in French only)
• SAUVéR : un second projet pilote d’autopartage de VÉ en région(in French only)