Gary Zhou 
The Tesla Semi is about to electrify Canada’s logging industry, with Mosaic Forest Management of Vancouver Island announcing the purchase of three Tesla Semis. The company intends to use all-electric Class 8 vehicles for its logging operations.
The Tesla Semis will be used in a pilot program to see how well all-electric trucks do in the log hauling industry. Domenico Ianndinardo, Mosaic’s vice-president and chief forester, said in a statement to ChekNews that the Tesla Semi pilot program will be a first for the logging industry.
“To our knowledge, there’s no one in the world hauling logs with fully electric trucks in the mountainous terrain that we have here, so this would be a global first for fully electrified full log haul trucks,” he said. If the pilot program proves successful, Mosaic would electrify its fleet of 300 logging trucks as part of its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2035.
Electric trucks, such as the Tesla Semi, are a good fit for the logging industry, according to Ianndinardo, particularly on Vancouver Island, where most of the timber is found at higher elevations. This means that, due to features like regenerative braking, a large portion of the energy used by trucks on their way up to the mountains will be replenished on their way down.
“As they come down the hill loaded, they’re able to regenerate energy and put that back into their batteries so in this cycle going up the hill empty and coming down the hill loaded they can generate their own battery supply on a daily basis,” the Mosaic Forest Management executive said.
The Tesla Semi has been ordered by a number of companies, not just Mosaic. Quality Foods, a company from Vancouver Island, has also reserved the all-electric Class 8 semi. The Tesla Semi’s 500-mile range, according to the grocery chain, would be ideal for round trips to Quality Foods stores without the need for charging.
Surprisingly, EcoWest Driven, a Vancouver Island company, is taking on the task of constructing commercial truck charging stations in the city. Later this fall, the company plans to begin construction on 45 commercial truck charging stations. Jarvis Shaver, Director and Co-Founder of EcoWest Powered, confirmed this.
“We have begun the process of creating charging infrastructure and a new electric vehicle maintenance facility in Parksville, BC to accommodate this new demand for emission-free heavy haulers,” he said.
