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April 11, 2016

Press Releases

IVI wins the OIQ’s 2016 Innovation Engineering Award

The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec awarded the Prix Génie innovation 2016 to the Innovative Vehicle Institute (IVI) for its support to La Compagnie Électrique Lion in the design of the eLion electric school bus, the first all-electric heavy-duty vehicle to be marketed in North America. IVI Director General François Adam, P.Eng. received the award on behalf of the project’s engineering team during the 2016 Engineering Excellence Evening, held during the Ordre’s annual Colloquium.

The main challenge the IVI engineers succeeded in meeting was to design a very large rechargeable energy storage system adapted to the Quebec climate. Six all-electric vehicles were designed in 2015 and Autobus Lion is now in the manufacturing stage. The commercialization of the vehicle will promote the growth of an emerging industrial sector.

The benefits of the e-Lion bus are considerable in terms of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Approximately 8,000 diesel-powered school buses operate regularly in Quebec, transporting tens of thousands of students. Replacing a diesel-powered school bus with an electric model reduces GHG emissions by 23 tonnes per year.

This achievement is part of Quebec’s efforts to fight climate change. It is also cited as an example of the contribution of Québec engineering in the Québec government’s 2015-2020 Transportation Electrification Action Plan. It is also thanks to such innovations that the orientations of the Energy Policy 2030, recently unveiled by the Government of Québec, will become a reality.

The purpose of the Prix Génie innovation is to encourage innovation related to engineering by recognizing merit, both in terms of the results obtained and the efforts invested. The innovations rewarded by this award must contribute to improving the quality of life of human beings and correspond to the fundamental values of the engineer, namely competence, ethics, responsibility and social commitment.