Electric bus market powers back up after pandemic setbacks: New Flyer CEO
Workers laid off earlier in pandemic return to Winnipeg plant as bus manufacturer eyes growth
While the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on many businesses, bus manufacturer New Flyer, one of Winnipeg's biggest companies, said its fortune is quickly changing.
Staff are back on the assembly line at its massive plant in Transcona, filling orders for high-tech transit vehicles. Three hundred workers who were laid off at the height of the pandemic have all been called back, and the company is looking for another 87 employees.
"The tension in here, you could have cut it with a knife, just a short six months ago," said Michael Deley, a union chairperson who represents New Flyer employees at Unifor Local 3003.
"But now, things are turning around. People are able to pay their bills, support their families," said Deley.
New Flyer is a subsidiary of NFI Group, a multinational corporation headquartered in Winnipeg. Its Transcona factory works on custom order buses slated to hit the road in dozens of cities across North America.
The company said demand for new buses plummeted as people stayed home during the pandemic. But this week, shiny new buses bound for Vancouver and Toronto could be seen rolling down the assembly line.
"It feels like we hit rock bottom, but we're on our way back," said NFI Group president and CEO Paul Soubry.
He said New Flyer has orders for around 10,000 new battery-electric and fuel cell-electric buses, representing sales of more than $6.9 billion US — about $9 billion Cdn.
"We all sat around and thought COVID would last two weeks, and then two months, and then two years," Soubry continued.
"Then, none of us could have imagined the global dynamics around the supply chain."
He said while the Winnipeg plant kept operating with a reduced staff, work happened in fits and starts as it struggled to get parts. He said New Flyer is finally equipped to tackle the growing demand, as supply chain issues connected to the pandemic ease up.
Soubry said investors are also taking note, with a complete refinancing deal coming this week, which will enable NFI to further expand production.
Not your father's bus anymore
Soubry credits the drive toward zero emission vehicle (ZEV) technology for New Flyer's dramatic rebound, as cities worldwide rush to add battery-operated buses to their transit fleets, powering what he calls "the ZEVolution."
"This isn't your father's bus anymore, that had a bunch of steel going down the road with smoke out of the back," said Soubry, standing aboard a brand new electric bus, painted in the red and white design of the Toronto Transit Commission.
He believes public transportation will lead the charge toward cleaner vehicles worldwide, as countries like Canada, the U.S. and Britain invest in making the switch.
"As we saw public transit migrate to some bigger systems like subway or light rail, we found out those are 10-year bets, costing billions," said Soubry.
"The fact that buses now come with zero emissions, whether it's battery, electric trolley or fuel cell — we get all the benefits of the environmental impact, with the massive flexibility around a bus infrastructure that already has depots, drivers and maintenance."
Still some roadblocks
Soubry admitted there are still roadblocks ahead when it comes to electric vehicle infrastructure, particularly for private companies without the government funding of transit agencies.
NFI Group also builds motor coaches through its subsidiary, MCI. Based in Winnipeg's Fort Garry neighbourhood, Soubry said MCI is still firmly focused on diesel engines.
"Motor coaches are a lot like the trucking industry," said the CEO.
"You can't take a motor coach 400 miles, then sit there eight or nine hours to charge the vehicle. So the charging dynamics are going to impact the rate of adoption."
New Flyer's director of new product development said transit agencies face similar obstacles as they shift lanes from fossil fuels to electric vehicles.
"The first question we get is, 'how far will it go on a single charge?'" said engineer Thomas Small.
He said New Flyer is always looking into the latest batteries and most efficient propulsion systems, an exciting but still-evolving process.
"Transit systems are set up with fast refill times, and they want the new zero emission vehicles to perform the same way as the vehicles they operate today," he said, saying the switch is a bit more complicated than subbing new buses for the old diesel-driven ones.
Soubry said NFI is now helping transit companies navigate the changes, as they adjust their facilities and operations.
"We don't make the chargers, we don't generate the energy, but we're project managing a lot of this for our customers," he said.
New Flyer said the City of Winnipeg is also testing the waters with zero emission vehicles. Winnipeg Transit placed an order last year for 16 battery-electric and fuel cell-electric buses, with options to buy as many as 150 over the next few years.
WATCH | Winnipeg bus manufacturer eyes growth in electric market:
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