Ikea Canada has announced plans to add 25 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to its stores in Ontario and Quebec, as it continues its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. The company invested $305,000 of its own money and received an additional $300,000 from Natural Resources Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) to fund the initiative. The Level 2 and Level 3 chargers will be installed at stores in Montreal, Boucherville, Quebec City, and Ottawa, as well as its distribution centre in Beauharnois, Que.
“At Ikea Canada, we have a simple yet powerful vision to create a better everyday life for the many people. As Canada’s largest home furnishing retailer, we believe it’s our responsibility to have a positive impact on people and the planet, and that we are big enough to make a difference,” said Helene Loberg, country sustainability manager, Ikea Canada, in a press release.
The chargers will be open for use by customers, co-workers and commercial users. Ikea’s charging stations are provided by ChargePoint and the company aims to make 100% of its home deliveries zero-emission by 2025.
Ikea is growing its electric delivery fleet, which consists of medium-duty trucks, and has partnered with Metro Supply Chain Logistics in B.C. and GoBolt in Ontario to provide zero-emission last mile delivery. With the addition of two commercial EV chargers at the Ikea Ottawa store, GoBolt will be able to use two electric trucks to carry out Ikea home deliveries in the city.
As part of its fleet decarbonization strategy, Ikea also unveiled the new Lion Electric delivery trucks it purchased from the Quebec-based manufacturer. An Ikea spokesperson said that the output for L3 (DC fast) chargers is 125 kWh, which means that the Lion Electric truck that its delivery partner, GoBolt, uses takes between 30-45 minutes to charge.
“We aim for all company owned, leased and shared vehicles used in our operations to be zero emission by 2025. This includes company cars, pool cars (for business travel) and forklift trucks/shunting trucks,” stated the company in its 2022 sustainability report.
This latest initiative will complement Ikea Canada’s existing efforts to reduce its environmental impact, which includes a commitment to achieve 100% renewable energy usage across its operations by 2025. Additionally, all of its retail locations in Canada now offer free EV charging stations.
