Coke Canada Bottling is expanding its battery-electric truck fleet with the addition of seven Volvo VNR Electric trucks in British Columbia and Quebec, more than doubling its Volvo electric truck count across the country.
The latest deployment includes three new trucks in Quebec City, with four more scheduled for delivery this spring in Vancouver. With those additions, the company’s national electric vehicle fleet will grow to nearly 40, spanning vans, on-road trucks and yard tractors.
For Coke Canada Bottling, the move builds on an electric fleet pilot launched in Montreal in 2023 and reflects a broader effort to scale zero-emission operations in parts of the business where the duty cycle fits the technology.
“As we grow our family-owned business, we are committed to responsibly managing our environmental footprint,” said Tony Chow, president of Coke Canada Bottling. “This expansion marks an exciting evolution for our growing fleet of electric vehicles. We’re pleased to be adding seven new Volvo trucks to service our customers across the Lower Mainland and the Quebec City region. This is one of the ways we’re taking action to reduce carbon emissions across our business while continuing to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers.”
The Volvo VNR Electric trucks will support local and regional delivery routes, where predictable operations and repeatable daily patterns can make battery-electric trucks a practical fit. Coke Canada Bottling said the trucks are being used for several daily round trips from its distribution centers to customer locations.
That route structure is a key part of the strategy. The trucks are equipped with a six-battery configuration capable of traveling up to 440 kilometers, or 275 miles, on a single charge, aligning with urban and regional distribution work.
“Coke Canada Bottling has taken what they learned early on and turned it into a practical, multi-region deployment,” said Matthew Blackman, managing director, Canada, Volvo Trucks North America. “When you see electric trucks running predictable, high-frequency routes like these, it shows how well the technology fits into everyday fleet operations.”
To support the latest expansion, Coke Canada Bottling also added charging infrastructure in both markets. The company installed one 180-kW Heliox Flex charger with three dispensers in Quebec City and two 180-kW Heliox Flex chargers with six dispensers in Vancouver.
The rollout suggests a measured approach to electrification, with the company expanding from an initial pilot into a broader, multi-region deployment based on operational experience. Rather than positioning the trucks as a one-off demonstration, Coke Canada Bottling is using them in regular delivery service as it grows what it calls its “Red Fleet.”
For fleets watching the commercial rollout of battery-electric trucks, the expansion offers another example of how the technology is being applied in return-to-base and regional delivery operations, where charging can be planned around established routes and depot infrastructure.
