Quebec gives $22.6 million to Prévost to electrify buses

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The money will come in the form of a $15.15 million loan from Investissement Québec and a subsidy of $7.5 million.

Premier François Legault, right, visits the Prévost bus plant with its president François Tremblay, centre, in Ste-Claire.
Premier François Legault, right, visits the Prévost bus plant with its president François Tremblay, centre, in Ste-Claire. Photo by Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Press

STE-CLAIRE — Coach bus manufacturer Prévost is spending $84 million to develop a fully electric bus and a method of converting diesel buses to electric ones.

The Quebec government is helping with $22.6 million in funding — a $15.1 million loan from Investissement Québec and a subsidy of $7.5 million.

Premier François Legault announced the funding Thursday at the manufacturer’s Ste-Claire factory, 35 kilometers southeast of Quebec City.

He said the project would help consolidate 650 existing jobs at Prévost and add another 115 by 2025.

Prévost president François Tremblay said the research and development work already several months ago and he expected to be able to put electric buses into service in 2025.

Electric buses will be sold for $900,000 to $1 million.

Tremblay said clients have already expressed interest for this type of vehicle. He said technology giants like Google, Apple and Facebook want to procure zero-emission vehicles for their employee shuttles between San Francisco and Silicon Valley.


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