BCBusiness

September/October - Entrepreneur of the Year

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

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32 BCBUSINESS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 panels, has its own navigation screen and plenty of on-board storage. It also meets Class 1 bicycle regulations, so it's legal to ride in bike lanes or along a road shoulder. To see if the Veemo could be used for sharing, VeloMetro teamed up with Movmi and UBC Parking to run an on-campus commuting pilot for UBC students and faculty. Over six months, some 1,200 users rode a total of 2,000 kilometres. –S.Z. AT Y O U R S E R V I C E As consumers embrace low- and zero-emission vehicles, the trucking industry lags behind, and its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions keep growing. Vancouver-based Hydra Energy aims to change that by becoming the first hydrogen-as-a-service (HaaS) provider for commercial trucking fleets. Hydra, which says it can reduce semi-trucks' GHG emissions by up to 40 percent and save money on fuel by offering a fixed discount versus diesel, sources waste hydrogen from partner Chemtrade Logistics. "We compress it and clean it up, and then use it in a refuelling station where we fuel up 65 trucks," says CEO Jessica Verhagen. Hydra targets fleets that return each day to their base, installing the refuelling station there at its own expense as long as the client signs a long-term contract. It also converts trucks for hydrogen refuelling with an engine retrofit that doesn't void the warranty. Looking ahead, Hydra plans to keep driving down trucks' emissions. "We want to continue moving toward 100 percent so it would be considered a zero- emission vehicle," Verhagen says. –N.R. H T O O H ! Hydrogen fuel cell pioneer Ballard Power Systems has branches (and markets) worldwide, in the U.S., Europe and China. Burnaby-headquartered Ballard's focus is the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, which combines hydrogen and oxy- gen to produce electricity, with only water and heat as byproducts. These fuel cells work for a variety of transport modes–passenger vehicles, trucks, trains and even drones–as well as power backups for critical infrastructure like radio towers. In Bal- lard's financial statement for the first quarter, president and CEO Randy MacEwen said the company has "a clearer line of sight on long-term growth in core mediums," of "bus, truck, rail and marine." –P.R. M I G H T - E F I N E Canadian Electric Vehicles (CANEV) has a variety of rides to show for its two decades in the EV game. The Parksville outfit makes airport service vehicles, indus- trial and commercial vehicles, and even an ice resurfacer for your next hockey game. But its flagship offering is the Might-E line, which includes the marquee Might-E Truck. Sales manager Jeff Christopherson calls it "one of the most rugged trucks of its class available in the world," capable of hauling 1,500 pounds. That makes it ideal for industrial work but also useful at orchards and wineries, where it can pull its weight without roughing up the flora. CANEV also offers EV conversion kits that let consumers change their internal combustion engine to an electric one. –P.R. M A K I N G C O N N E C T I O N S The move toward connected cars gets much of its drive from a Vancouver- headquartered business. In North America and Europe, Mojio has linked more than 1.25 million vehicles to the Internet via its channel partners, which include Telus Corp., Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile and smart-home specialist Vivint; and Force, its new subscription service for small-business fleets. The company, founded in 2012 by Jay Giraud (see p.29), helps drivers save time and money by analyzing the data it collects from vehicles. For example, Mojio might recommend the cheapest and most convenient place to buy gas or catch engine trouble before it becomes serious. "It's an easy-to-buy, easy-to-use fleet product for businesses that have five, 10, 15 vehicles," CEO Kenny Hawk says of Force. Small companies might not think of themselves as fleet operators, but they need to know where their drivers are, how they're taking care of the vehicles and if there are any problems, Hawk maintains. "By using our product, it helps make them more efficient." –N.R. n news for e-scooter maker Urban Machina, launched in 2016. While on holiday in Singapore, co-founder Olivia Yau had noticed the eco-friendly zoomers everywhere as an alternative to owning a car–and reckoned e-scooters could fill a similar gap in her hometown of Vancouver. "Biking is great, buses and SkyTrain and walking is great, but then there's a whole different category of people who don't live near transit," she says. "Or they have a physical limitation where biking is not an option." With Urban Machina's sales up 30 percent in the past year, thanks to COVID restrictions, Yau hopes Vancouver will officially permit safe riding of e-scooters for their envi- ronmental benefits. "Because whether or not they allow it, you still see people use it." –S.Z. E L E C T R I F Y E V E R Y T H I N G Jarvis Shaver was pushed to launch EcoWest Driven in 2015, when his daughter looked at the haze of wildfire smoke and said, "I guess it will be like this all the time when I grow up." The Parksville-based company, which maintains that electric vehicles have the highest fuel efficiency and lowest environmental impact compared to hydrogen and diesel, offers practical options for businesses looking to switch their transport operations. That includes offering EV trucks on lease, converting diesel trucks to electric-powered engines and setting up charging station hubs. –P.R. G O T Y O U C O V E R E D Electric bicycles give the rider power on hills or long rides, but this one takes that luxury one step further. Similar to a car in many ways, VeloMetro Mobility's Veemo SE has a cover for wind and rain protection, side mirrors, indicators, a carlike backseat and full suspen- sion. As a sustainable mobility startup, Vancouver-based VeloMetro created the three-wheeled, electric-assist vehicle to get more people onto bikes so they can enjoy the health benefits while also reducing carbon emissions. The Veemo, which charges via rooftop solar An Urban Machina e-scooter

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