Photos: EV Society - Sudbury

Four Tesla Model 3 vehicles have been added to the community paramedic fleet in the City of Sudbury, Ontario, which was one of the first municipalities in Canada to add electric vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The City of Sudbury has launched electric vehicles into its paramedic fleet. To do this, the most suitable Tesla Model 3s were selected. The announcement of the purchase of four cars from the Californian manufacturer was made during the 51st Sudbury Earth Day in April. The initiative marks an important step in the effort to achieve the municipal goal of a zero-emission city vehicle fleet by 2035. The cars will not be used as ambulances, but doctors will use them to answer calls from residents of the city.

“I did a lot of Google searching and, as far as I know, this is, at least, the first in Canada for an [electric] EMS vehicle,” says Devin Arthur, chapter president of the EV Society in Sudbury, in an interview with Electric Autonomy Canada. “I got nothing but excitement from the city. The overall benefits of an electric vehicle is something they are very excited about. Sudbury is a world-renowned city for its re-greening effort and I think we’ve being trying to envision how Sudbury can build on that. I'm really excited, obviously."

The vehicles are equipped with everything necessary for first aid, including defibrillators. The teams will be able to provide all emergency services, except for patient transport. “They are actually able to respond if there is an emergency if needed (just no patients in the car),” wrote Arthur in an email.

The fleet already has dozens of hybrid vehicles, so the city is clearly aware that they are significantly more economical than their gasoline counterparts. “For fleet managers now, there is no comparison anymore between electric and fuel. Electric [vehicles] are significantly cheaper and [fleet managers] have been looking at ways they can fit this into their budgets,” says Arthur. "We've been looking at ways to spur adoption and one of the ways that we had suggested early on was to have the municipality take on a leadership role to show people that EVs are relevant and that they can be used in the north."

According to Drive Tesla Canada, four Model 3 Standard Range Plus were delivered to the city on June 15. They began work on August 5, after they were pasted over with appropriate signs and equipped with the necessary equipment.

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