Driving Force Update: New Hybrids Available for Vancouver Motion Picture

Reel Green featured Driving Force, in its August 2018 newsletter for the introduction of its hybrid vehicle fleet. We caught up again with the team at Driving Force to see how the hybrid program is going.

When we first spoke to Driving Force in August 2018, the organization started with acquiring 6 hybrid vehicles. Since then, they hybrid rentals have gained in popularity, resulting in Driving Force purchasing 10 additional vehicles. Their current hybrid fleet totals to 16 available vehicles. They anticipate this to increase to 30 by next year!

To date, four – five productions filming in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland have rented the vehicles; some renting for as long as 6-month terms. Driving Force reports that since Transport Coordinators have learned about the hybrid availability the vehicles have been in high demand.

The cost difference between your standard rental vehicle and a hybrid option break out like this:

• short-term (less than 10 weeks), the difference is $100/week or $20/day.

• long-term (greater than 10 weeks), the difference is $50/week or $10/day.

Despite higher up-front costs for rental charges, it’s important to consider potential fuel savings when switching to hybrid and including it in your budget.

Driving Force has also added two charging stations at their Langley location and adding one more to the Burnaby location shortly. Driving Force also provides a fleet tracking program that can increase efficiency through monitoring fleet behaviour.

Overall, the introduction of a more sustainable option for fleet vehicles in the motion picture industry has proved to be a success. We hope to see other organizations follow in creating more sustainable options for consumers, businesses, and motion picture.