New electric Ice Explorer challenged by Athabasca Glacier’s ‘very unique environment’

A new Ice Explorer vehicle is said to be the world's first electric vehicle bringing guests to one of Jasper National Park's iconic attractions.

A company that organizes tours of the Columbia Icefield has unveiled a brand-new electric vehicle to take guests to the Athabasca Glacier.

Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality Inc. says its new Ice Explorer is the world’s first.

“So we’ll learn from this and build our plan from there, about how many (more vehicles) and at what point makes sense to do so,” Alex Grant with Pursuit Banff Jasper Collection said.

“We’re excited to see how it operates in this very unique environment with how it manages its range and how it changes each day.”

• Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Range was the most important element of the project for Tye Noble, president of Noble Northern. That’s the company that led the engineering and construction of the new vehicle.

He told CTV News the pilot is important because it shows the technology is ready for Jasper National Park’s incredibly demanding operating environment.

“The challenge was how do we make a vehicle that can operate in these conditions,” he said. “Going up very steep hills, going down very steep hills, hauling a lot of weight. So our main design was trying to make this vehicle as light as possible.”

“We have six kilowatts of solar on the roof, which puts back approximately 12 per cent on an average day into the battery.”

That means one cloudy afternoon won’t slow the new Ice Explorer.

In fact, Noble says there’d need to be “five or six” days of no sun to impact operations — a stretch rare in this part of the province.

Pursuit claims the vehicle also has a quieter cabin and “geofencing technology that automatically manages speed and applies braking in designated areas of the glacier.”

In addition to the new electric add, Pursuit said it has “fully refurbished” 10 of its other Ice Explorers with new EPA Tier 3 and Tier 4 diesel engines to reduce emissions.

The company has also replaced its diesel generator at the Columbia Icefield with propane, reducing the facility’s carbon footprint by more than 30 per cent.

2020 Ice Explorer crash killed 3, injured 14

The announcement comes almost six years after a fatal crash involving an Ice Explorer on a road leading to the Athabasca Glacier.

On July 18, 2020, three people died and 14 others were injured when the vehicle lost control and rolled 50 metres down a hill, coming to a rest on its roof.

Brewster Inc., a company connected to Pursuit, was not criminally charged, but did plead guilty to two charges under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

It was fined $475,000 for failing to mandate seatbelts and failing to control hazards.

The Columbia Icefield Adventure is currently open for the 2026 season. Further information can be found online.