Cleantech Forward: Electrifying Public Fleets

Foresight Podcast S01E02 - Cleantech Forward: Electrifying Public Fleets

What if garbage trucks moved in silence, school buses helped power the grid, and children could play alongside city streets free from fumes and noise? In this episode of Cleantech Forward, we explore how electrifying public fleets isn't just possible—it’s practical, impactful, and already happening in communities across BC. 

Host Jeanette Jackson talks with two leaders on the front lines of fleet electrification in British Columbia: Tauseef Waraich, Manager of Green Fleet & Equipment at the City of Burnaby, shares how municipalities are overcoming budget and infrastructure challenges to transition to zero-emission service vehicles; and Rob Safrata tells us how his business, Fuse Power Management, is working to help transform fleets into clean energy assets through the power of vehicle-to-grid technology, supported by Foresight’s BC Net Zero Innovation Network. 

From funding and policy to clean tech and public buy-in, this episode connects the dots behind the shift to smarter, cleaner municipal transportation.

Relevant Reports 

Canada’s Ventures to Value Chains: Energy Storage for Transportation

Powering Canada’s Future with Vehicle to Grid Innovation

About the Guests

Tauseef Waraich

 

Tauseef Waraich is the Manager of Green Fleet & Equipment at the City of Burnaby, where he is leading key initiatives to transition the municipal fleet to low-carbon and zero-emission technologies. Under his leadership, the City is completing the infrastructure necessary for 350 EV charging stations, set to be operational by June 2025. Nearly 15% of Burnaby’s fleet has already transitioned to electric, with pilot programs underway for electric garbage trucks and medium-duty vehicles. In addition to advancing the electric vehicle transition, he is also actively reviewing other zero-emission technologies, including hydrogen fuel cell solutions, to support the City's ambitious climate action goals. 

Rob Safrata

Rob Safrata is the CEO of Fuse Power Management, which turns EV fleets into AI-enabled power plants––cutting emissions, generating profits and revolutionizing grids and transportation. He is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience starting, acquiring and building companies by delivering a triple bottom line. He has a successful track record of integrating sustainability into businesses, a point of differentiation from competitors, driving growth and profitability. As an industry leader and speaker, Robert served as an inaugural member of Vancouver’s “Greenest City Action Team” helping guide civic economic development towards the goal of making Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020 and regularly shares the story of NOVEX’s transformation from a high-carbon business into an industry leader as a certified B-Corp and the greenest courier company in Canada. 

About Foresight Canada

​​Foresight Canada helps the world do more with less, sustainably. As Canada's largest cleantech innovation and adoption accelerator, we connect public and private sectors to the world’s best clean technologies, de-risking and simplifying the adoption of innovative solutions that improve productivity, profitability, and economic competitiveness, all while addressing today’s most urgent climate challenges. 

We don’t just accelerate innovation. We are innovation. From humble roots in Vancouver, Canada, Foresight has rapidly scaled into a national, globally connected non-profit, driving the adoption of sustainable innovation in major industries worldwide, working with 200+ industry partners and actively engaging with 145+ federal, provincial, and municipal governments, and Indigenous rights holders.

Since 2013, Foresight has supported 1580+ ventures, 150+ industry partners, and 300+ investor firms to deploy $2.31B in capital, achieve $570M in revenues, and create 9,430+ high-paying jobs. Our domestic and international engagement includes w