MONTREAL, April 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Lion Electric Co. for the conception, design and manufacturing of eight tandem axle, Class 8, zero-emission, electric trucks as part of its larger sustainable strategy to reduce emissions through innovation.

The trucks will be deployed in cities across the CN network such as Vancouver, as well as the Greater Toronto, Montreal, and Hamilton areas. They will be tested for different tasks from urban delivery, container shuttle service, to port operations, and cross-town service. The trucks are custom-built and engineered in Quebec to withstand North American weather and road conditions. The trucks will also produce no noise pollution and each truck will remove 100 tons of GHG from the road annually.

“This project is an example of CN’s commitment to sustainable business practices,” said Mark Lerner, Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development at CN. “By using these zero-emission trucks in different settings, we want to identify where these trucks can make the most impact on how we serve our customers and reduce our emissions. Over the last 25 years, CN has already reduced greenhouse gas emissions from its locomotives by 40% and we are constantly looking for innovative ways to continue down that path.”

“We are very pleased to support CN in its commitment to sustainable mobility,” added Partick Gervais, VP Marketing and Communications at The Lion Electric Co. “By purchasing zero-emission trucks from Lion, CN is also promoting local innovation and jobs. Lion Electric will have 200 employees by the end of 2019 and more than 1,000 within the next 10 years thanks to agreements like this one.”

Delivery of the trucks is expected in the summer of 2020. The terms of the MOU were not disclosed.

About CN
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries – serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company’s website at www.cn.ca.

About The Lion Electric Co.
The Lion Electric Co. is an innovative manufacturer of zero emission vehicles. We create, design and manufacture all-electric school buses, minibus for paratransit, shuttle and urban trucks. Lion stands out as the North American electric OEM leader. Lion designs, builds and assembles all of their vehicles’ components: chassis, battery packs and cabin. Always actively seeking new technologies, Lion vehicles have unique features that are specifically adapted to its users and their everyday needs. Lion believes that transitioning to all-electric vehicles will lead to major improvements in our society, environment and overall quality of life.