Geazone Eco-Courier has launched North America’s first hydrogen-powered courier fleet.
The company, based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, originally employed a fleet of battery electric vehicles, including a Tesla Model X, but recently decided to purchase 40 Toyota Mirai fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).
The switch was made in part thanks to generous rebates from the B.C. provincial government.
According to a press release, the government provided $72,000 from the CleanBC Go Electric Hydrogen Fleet program. Those funds went towards the purchase of 9 Mirai FCEVs. The company now has 20, and plans to expand to 40 in the coming months.
The other reason for the switch to hydrogen is because of the impact of COVID-19 on their original business model.
“We’d already been operating as an eco-courier with battery electric vehicles, but when COVID arrived, we had to make some changes. A lot of our business-to-business client base dried up. We pivoted to a business-to-consumer model for final mile delivery by courier,” said Geazone President & CEO Andrew Mitchell.
Geazone Eco-Courier now focuses on providing sustainable delivery services, third party logistics and freight services to businesses across Vancouver Island and Vancouver.
If any company were to switch to a fleet of FCEVs, southwestern B.C. is the perfect place to do it. Vancouver and Victoria are home to four of the five hydrogen refueling stations in Canada.
Geazone isn’t the only company to go with the Mirai FCEV. Earlier this year Lyft announced a partnership with Toyota to allow drivers to rent the Toyota Mirai in Vancouver.
Toyota partners with Lyft to provide drivers with hydrogen-powered Mirai rentals in Vancouver
