Built in B.C. | Building B.C.
A series exploring how Innovate BC-supported projects are helping organizations solve real-world challenges through made-in-B.C. innovation.
Edison Motors is developing hybrid-electric trucks designed for some of Canada’s most demanding terrain. Through a project with forestry company Tolko, Edison Motors, based in Donald, B.C., is testing a hybrid logging truck aimed at reducing fuel consumption and emissions while maintaining the performance required for heavy-duty forestry operations.
Projects like Edison Motors’ are supported through Innovate BC’s Integrated Marketplace Platform, a continuum of growth and commercialization programming designed to help organizations test, deploy and scale innovative solutions. Edison Motors has participated in multiple Integrated Marketplace Platform programs, including BC Fast Pilot and the Early-Stage Demonstration Call, to advance and validate its technology through real-world demonstration opportunities.
Innovate BC’s President and CEO, Peter Cowan, spoke with Theron Groff, President of Edison Motors, about the opportunity the company identified in the forestry sector, the value of working directly with industry partners through the Integrated Marketplace Platform, and how real-world technology validation can help accelerate the adoption in heavy industry.
What opportunity did Edison Motors identify in the forestry sector, and how is your technology designed to address it?
TG: We’ve spent our careers running trucks in real B.C. logging country, so we know firsthand that most forestry operations haul on steep, remote mountain roads where fuel bills and downtime add up fast. Typical fully electric trucks simply don’t work in these environments.
In logging, you generally drive empty up the mountain and come down loaded, and that’s where our system shines. The truck climbs up the mountain on battery power and electric drive, then uses regenerative braking on the loaded descent to capture energy and recharge its batteries, turning what used to be wasted heat into usable power and fuel savings. The diesel engine also runs as a generator when needed, eliminating dependence on roadside charging stations.
We build these trucks the way truckers and mechanics actually need them, using as many off-the-shelf components as possible, protecting the right to repair, and avoiding planned obsolescence. Our goal is simple: give customers trucks that are built to last, that they can wrench on themselves, and that make money instead of headaches.
Through the Integrated Marketplace Platform, Edison Motors is testing a hybrid logging truck in partnership with Tolko. What made this collaborative demonstration opportunity important for Edison at this stage of growth?
TG: This collaboration lets us prove Edison’s technology in exactly the kind of environment it was built for, alongside a partner that truly understands forestry operations. Tolko is one of the most major mill operators in Western Canada, with logging contractors working some of the steepest and most demanding terrain in B.C. Their operations are the perfect proving ground for our hybrid logging trucks – if our technology performs there, it can perform anywhere.
Having spent our trucking careers hauling into Tolko mills, being able to build and test a truck for their operations is a dream come true. It also comes at a pivotal time in our growth. We’re moving from a promising prototype to a proven workhorse, and partnering with a company of Tolko’s scale and reputation will give us the real-world data, operator feedback, and industry credibility we need to take that next step.
Edison Motors has participated in multiple Integrated Marketplace Platform programs to validate and advance its technology. How have these opportunities helped move the company forward, and what are you hoping to learn or validate through your current project with Tolko?
TG: Support through the Integrated Marketplace Platform has been critical in helping us move from a cool concept to a proven solution. These opportunities have given us the runway to build and test real trucks, collect hard data in the field, and refine our systems while working directly with contractors and operators instead of relying on simulations or controlled yard tests. They also help de-risk the technology for customers and investors by sharing some of the early financial burden.
With Tolko, we’re taking the next step: proving how the system performs day in and day out in some of the harshest logging terrain in B.C., under real schedules, loads, and weather conditions. We want to quantify fuel savings, track maintenance impacts, and validate driver acceptance so we can show that our hybrid drivetrain doesn’t just work in theory – it delivers measurable benefits in the toughest forestry conditions.
Heavy industry can be a difficult market for new technologies to break into. How valuable is it to have the opportunity through the Integrated Marketplace Platform to work directly with an industry partner while demonstrating a solution in the field?
TG: It’s hugely valuable – honestly, it’s essential if you want to be taken seriously in heavy industry. This sector doesn’t adopt new technology because it looks good on paper; it adopts it when it works safely and reliably in the conditions crews face every day. Partnering directly with an industry partner lets us design and refine the system around real duty cycles, loads, roads, and operator feedback, rather than assumptions. It also builds trust. Contractors and drivers can see the truck working alongside existing equipment, maintenance teams can weigh in on serviceability, and management can review real data on fuel use, uptime, and total cost of ownership.
For a company like ours, that kind of in-field partnership enabled through Integrated Marketplace Platform programs is invaluable. It accelerates learning, exposes issues early, and provides credible proof that our solution isn’t just innovative – it’s ready for work.
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