Electric Buses Stories May 20
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.
Electric Buses Stories May 17
Maine’s first electric public transit vehicles – four Proterra ZX5 35-foot buses – went into service on the streets of Portland yesterday.
Electric Buses Stories April 14
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.
Electric Buses Stories April 1
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.
Electric Buses Stories March 22
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.
Electric Buses Stories March 18
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.
Electric Buses Stories March 11
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.
Electric Buses Stories March 2
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.
Electric Buses Stories February 21
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.
Electric Buses Stories February 18
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.
Electric Buses Stories January 28
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.
Electric Buses Stories January 19
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.
Electric Buses Stories January 13
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.
Electric Buses Stories January 11
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.
Electric Buses Stories November 11, 2021
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.
Electric Buses Stories November 4, 2021
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.
Electric Buses Stories November 2, 2021
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.
Electric Buses Stories October 25, 2021
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.
Electric Buses Stories October 5, 2021
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Electric Buses Stories September 23, 2021
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.
Electric Buses Stories September 20, 2021
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.
Electric Buses Stories August 23, 2021
Welcome one and all back to the Electric Vehicle Spotlight (EVS), where we at Electrek shine a light on specific companies bringing exciting new innovations and strategies to the world of electrified transport. Our latest EVS is on Opibus, a company headquartered in Kenya that was born out of a research project in Sweden.
By focusing on all-electric conversion kits for fleet vehicles, as well as manufacturing electric motorcycles and energy systems, Opibus is on a mission to implement clean electric mobility in the emerging markets of Africa.
Electric Buses Stories July 23, 2021
Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, which is heavily dependent on diesel vehicles, is going to purchase up to 20 electric buses that will run along two routes.
Electric Buses Stories June 30, 2021
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Electric Buses Stories June 25, 2021
US Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) announced late today that more than $5.4 million in federal grant funding will be awarded to the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority to purchase electric buses.
Electric Buses Stories June 22, 2021
Miami-Dade County in Florida today announced it has bought 42 Proterra ZX5+ electric transit buses, featuring a total of 19 megawatt hours of battery storage capacity. The county also announced that it will install 75 Proterra chargers across three bus depots. Its first electric buses are slated to be delivered in 2022.
Electric Buses Stories May 28, 2021
The first driverless electric shuttle buses hit the roads in the city of Cambridge in the UK yesterday as part of ground-breaking trials.
Electric Buses Stories April 23, 2021
This week, Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the entire US fleet of ICE school buses to electric vehicles. The bill would authorize federal grant money over the course of 10 years, and 40% of the funds would be specifically devoted to replacing school buses operating in mostly nonwhite, poorer communities.
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Electric Buses Stories April 15, 2021
CaaS provider AMPLY Power announced today that it is partnering with Unique Electric Solutions (UES) to equip school buses and trucks with electrification, charging services, and vehicle-to-grid capabilities. AMPLY Power will oversee the collaboration that also includes Rhombus Energy Solutions with vehicles provided by Logan Bus Company.
Electric Buses Stories March 31, 2021
In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
Electric Buses Stories March 25, 2021
Electrified powertrain manufacturer Cummins has delivered what it is calling the first fully operational vehicle-to-grid (V2G) school buses. Even though Lion Electric started testing the same V2G tech years ago. These buses are manufactured by Blue Bird and powered by Cummins to include DC fast charging and V2G capabilities. The two electric school buses are operational in school districts in Peoria, Illinois, about 2.5 hours south of Chicago.
Electric Buses Stories February 4, 2021
General Motors gave Norway and its electric car success story the best possible promotion this week with their ‘No Way, Norway’ advertisement ahead of this Sunday’s Super Bowl LV. While Will Ferrell’s rallying cry has amused many and left others less impressed, in the absence of any actual electric cars to sell, it’s a conversational icebreaker at least. But there’s also a city in China with the biggest electric public transportation system in the world.
Electric Buses Stories October 14, 2020
It’s an enormous state, but you gotta start somewhere: Alaska is getting its very first electric school bus, which was built by Thomas Built Buses in North Carolina.
Electric Buses Stories July 2, 2020
Nevada launched new incentives yesterday from Nevada Energy’s (NVE) annual Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration (EVID) program that will help accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and EV charging stations across the state.
Electric Buses Stories June 10, 2020
As Electrek wrote in April, we’re still suffering from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a decade later. Scientists are finding oil from that spill in the livers of fish, and on the deep ocean floor. So it’s a small consolation that $192,000 of Pinellas County, Florida’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement was spent on the US East Coast’s first inductive wireless bus charging station.
Electric Buses Stories February 27, 2020
The Republic of Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) is buying up to 600 hybrid double-decker buses from BAE and bus-building company Alexander Dennis Ltd.
Electric Buses Stories January 6, 2020
Legislation in New Jersey passed critical committee votes today, making it likely to become law this week. It will make New Jersey one of the most generous states for EVs, as well as improve EV infrastructure for the millions of Americans who drive through the state.
Electric Buses Stories December 12, 2019
The electrification of trucks and buses needs to be accelerated, says a new report released yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Electric Buses Stories July 29, 2019
An Indian government committee has sanctioned 5,645 electric buses for 65 cities in one of the largest electric bus initiatives the world has seen outside of China.
Electric Buses Stories July 23, 2019
Warsaw has placed an order for 130 articulated electric buses from Polish bus maker Solaris in one of the largest European orders for e-buses to date.
Electric Buses Stories July 10, 2019
Milan to receive 250 electric buses from Solaris in one of Europe’s largest e-bus orders yet
Italian transport operator ATM Milano has awarded a contract for 250 electric buses to Poland’s Solaris, in one of the largest electric bus orders yet in Europe.
Electric Buses Stories June 26, 2019
Tesla Powerpacks are now used to reduce the cost of charging a large fleet of electric buses operated by Stagecoach in the UK. expand full story
Electric Buses Stories June 11, 2019
Colombian capital Bogotá will add 594 new all-electric buses to its TransMilenio public bus system in 2020, giving the city the largest electric bus fleet in Latin America, Bogotá Mayor Enrique Peñalosa said.
Electric Buses Stories June 10, 2019
Volvo has introduced its newest electric bus, an all-electric articulated bus that will come in two lengths and be able to fit up to 150 passengers.
Electric Buses Stories June 6, 2019
Philadelphia’s local transportation authority introduced 25 new all-electric buses this week, and the organization claims it now has the largest zero-emissions bus fleet on the East Coast.
Electric Buses Stories June 3, 2019
The Toronto Transit Commission’s first all-electric bus is on city roads as of today — and it’s the first of 60 electric buses the city expects to add to its fleet by the first quarter of 2020.
Electric Buses Stories May 30, 2019
Barcelona will soon be the latest city to add a large number of electric buses to its fleet, replacing aging diesel buses in the process.
