The Columbia Icefield Just Put an Electric Tour Vehicle on the Glacier

Pursuit’s Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure launched what it says is the world’s first electric Ice Explorer on May 20, marking the beginning of a pilot project aimed at reducing emissions on one of Canada’s most iconic glacier tourism experiences.

The newly converted vehicle, developed by Manitoba-based engineering company Noble Northern for Pursuit, will operate as part of the regular Athabasca Glacier tour fleet this season as the company evaluates how the technology performs on the glacier.

The electric model is one of 21 Ice Explorers operated by Pursuit at the Columbia Icefield, with the remainder of the fleet currently operating on diesel power.

Alex Grant, vice-president of operations for Pursuit Banff Jasper Collection, said the company plans to use the pilot to evaluate how the technology performs over the season and whether additional electric vehicles could eventually replace more of the diesel-powered fleet.

“We’re going to learn this year how it performs, how many tours it’s able to support in a day and those sorts of things,” Grant said. “We wouldn’t have trialed the technology if there wasn’t an intention to do more of that and overhaul the fleet.”

Unlike conventional electric vehicles, the Ice Explorer was specifically designed to operate independently of charging stations or electrical infrastructure. Tye Noble, president of Noble Northern, said the vehicle is powered through a combination of rooftop bifacial solar panels, which generate energy from both sides of the panel, and regenerative braking technology that captures energy while descending the glacier road.

“There’s nowhere to plug in here,” Noble said. “They could do it, but the issue there is that there’s no clean power here. It would be generators and that doesn’t really make sense.”

The bus uses a rooftop solar array with a generating capacity of approximately six kilowatts, capable of generating roughly 40 kilowatt-hours of electricity daily. Noble said reflected sunlight and UV rays bouncing off the glacier help the bifacial panels generate electricity from both sides.

Noble said the electric Ice Explorer is approximately 10,000 pounds lighter than the traditional diesel versions, helping reduce energy consumption while climbing the steep glacier terrain. He added that designing the vehicle presented significant engineering challenges, particularly balancing reduced weight with enough traction and power to safely navigate the icy conditions.

“The hardest thing was trying to figure out how we could get enough traction by lessening the weight,” Noble said. “Our thing was traction. That’s why you see dual wheels. These are winter tires.”

The company said the vehicle can complete roughly 30 to 35 trips before requiring significant recharge time, with regenerative braking helping recover battery power during descents.

“We’re gaining almost one percent of battery going down that hill,” Noble said.

The launch comes amid growing pressure across the tourism industry to lower environmental impacts while continuing to operate in environmentally sensitive destinations.

Glacier tourism operations at the Columbia Icefield have previously faced criticism from some concerned about the impacts of vehicle traffic on the glacier. Pursuit says the electric conversion is intended to help reduce the attraction’s environmental footprint.

Afzal Minhas, chief operating officer of sustainability consulting company GreenStep Solutions, said many visitors choose the experience because of the glacier’s ecological significance and are becoming increasingly conscious about the environmental footprint associated with tourism experiences.

“People actually coming to Columbia Icefield, they choose this experience due to the ecological significance of the place,” Minhas said during the launch event. “The last thing they want is actually to leave it environmentally harmed.”

GreenStep Solutions manages Pursuit’s EcoFund program, which collects small sustainability contributions from guest bookings to help fund emissions-reduction initiatives. Minhas said the EcoFund contributed roughly 30% of the project’s financing, representing approximately $338,000 toward the vehicle’s estimated $1.18-million cost.

“This is a great example of stewardship,” Minhas said. “One third of the funding is by guests themselves.”

Minhas said the project is expected to reduce approximately 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per season, the equivalent of taking about 10 passenger vehicles off the road for a year.

Grant said the company believes the tours provide visitors with access to an environment many would otherwise never experience firsthand.

“This is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world,” Grant said. “There is a really important educational piece to this where, by enabling guests to experience the glacier and learn about it, it provides an informative piece of learning for them as part of this experience.”