Electric Buses

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan are today launching the Clean School Bus program, a part of President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, from a high school in Falls Church, Virginia.

Maine’s first electric public transit vehicles – four Proterra ZX5 35-foot buses – went into service on the streets of Portland yesterday.

Burlingame, California-headquartered Proterra, which builds electric commercial vehicles, today announced that it’s increasing the battery storage onboard its purpose-built ZX5 Max electric transit bus – and that means more range.

The governor of Nevada, Steve Sisolak (D-NV), signed a multi-state agreement yesterday that pledges at least 30% of all new trucks and buses sold will be zero emission by 2030, and 100% will be zero emission by 2050.

The Antelope Valley Transit Authority (ATVA) board of directors and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently celebrated a journey to electrification that began a decade ago. Now, the ATVA has become the first all-electric, zero emissions transit agency in North America.

Lots of news in the segment of electric school buses this week, as Highland Electric Fleets signed an agreement with Thomas Built Buses to provide lower upfront costs to customers and expedite EV adoption; their letter of intent will put the price of an electric bus at cost parity with the traditional diesel option. On the opposite US coast, InCharge Energy and its partners announced a project in Southern California to deploy 42 electric school buses, calling it the largest fleet in the state.

North American motor coach seller ABC Companies has announced another successful trip across the US, this time using a Van Hool TDX25E all-electric bus. The double-decker motor coach was “Proterra Powered” and traveled 2,524 miles from Winter Garden, Florida, to Costa Mesa, California, using only public charging stations. This latest trip further showcases the potential of battery-electric buses, even larger models like the TDX25E.

Zero-emission bus manufacturer, Letenda, has unveiled its flagship Electrip electric bus designed specifically to navigate the harsh winter conditions in Canada. The all-electric city bus is the flagship vehicle for Letenda following six years of research and development, alongside help from partners like Cummins.

ABC Companies, a North American motorcoach seller, announced it has completed a 1,700 mile trip across the Pacific Northwest using a Van Hool CX45E all-electric bus. The electric bus was “Proterra Powered” and traveled from Newark, California to Seattle, Washington and back using only public charging stations. The trip helps showcase the potential of battery-electric bus capabilities, as well as the growing charging infrastructure to support long-distance electric vehicle travel in the US.

The Lion Electric Company has launched a new division called LionCapital Solutions. The new division will provide Lion Electric customers with flexible financing as they look to electrify their fleets of medium- to heavy-duty commercial vehicles such as school buses and trucks.

Electrification of school busses and fleets requires a huge upfront cost but lower total cost of ownership over the life of the vehicle. By helping spread out the purchase price of fleets over their lifetimes, Lion is allowing operators to keep in place their current financial structures.

Chinese mobility manufacturer BYD has introduced its new “Type A” electric school bus to transport up to thirty US students at a time. Furthermore, the new zero-emission bus is ADA capable up to 800 lbs and can travel 140 miles on a single charge. What may be most appealing to school districts, however, is the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities BYD’s Type A school bus will provide.

EV developer Opibus is once again paving the way for zero-emission transportation in Africa, by unveiling its first electric bus designed and developed upon its own modular EV platform. Alongside other Opibus EVs, the company is one step closer to mass-producing electric buses for the pan-African market and electrifying public transit for the entire continent.

EV technology company Proterra has announced a large, multi-year agreement with commercial EV manufacturer Vicinity Motor to provide battery systems to hundreds of future commercial vehicles. As part of the supply agreement, a minimum of 600 Vicinity Motor EVs will be powered by Proterra battery systems through 2024, including transit buses and Class 3 to 5 commercial trucks.

The City of Montpellier confirmed that it canceled an order for 50 hydrogen fuel cell buses after realizing that it would be cheaper and more efficient to order battery-electric buses instead.

Coach bus and electric powertrain manufacturers Equipmake and Beulas have added a new member to their team to deliver all-electric double decker buses. The companies recently announced that Go-Ahead London, the largest bus operator in the capital, has joined as a partner. Go-Ahead London will begin in-service trials of the Jewel E electric buses on London streets beginning early next year.

Electrified commercial fleet developer Lightning eMotors has announced the sale of an all-electric double-decker coach bus that seats 70 passengers. The converted diesel coach now contains a 640 kWh battery pack installed by Lightning eMotors, offering an estimated range of over 200 miles. According to the company, this is the largest known battery capacity for this vehicle type.

African electric mobility company Opibus announced today that it has closed on a round of equity and grant fundraising totaling $7.5 million. According to the company, this the largest sum of money raised by an electric mobility company in all of Sub-Saharan Africa, eclipsing the previous by $4 million. Opibus now looks to use this investment money to continue to scale its operations in electric motorcycle and bus manufacturing in Africa.

Medium and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturer Lion Electric Co. recently announced a conditional purchase order from Student Transportation of Canada (STC) for 1,000 of its all-electric Lion C school buses. The PO is dependent upon a grant of non-repayable contributions to STC under Canada’s Zero-Emission Transit Fund (ZETF). If approved, STC would become the largest operator of zero-emission buses in all of North America.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Gray County Wind Farm in Kansas is celebrating its 20th birthday.
• Austin approves a huge electric transit bus purchase – 197, to be precise.
• Clean energy now provides 25.22% of total US available installed generating capacity.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Spanish bus builder Beulas has teamed up with electric powertrain manufacturer Equipmake to create the Jewel E, an electric double-decker bus that will begin service in London. The Jewel E can be equipped with a battery pack up to 543 kWh, the largest battery of any single axle double-decker electric bus, providing a max range of 250 miles on a single charge.

Following a Zero-Emission Bus Summit in the UK, London mayor Sadiq Khan announced that all new buses ordered by Transport for London (TfL) will be electric moving forward. The new policy falls in line with the UK capital’s previously set goal of making its entire bus fleet electric by 2037. Alongside the announcement, Khan announced an advanced timeline to see a fully-electric bus fleet by 2034, or perhaps even sooner.