Austin to Store New Electric Buses for 1 Year

[Bob Dylan]

Due to the Bankruptcy of the Company( Proterra) that made Austin's 46 New Electric Buses,( Cost: 48 Million Dollars) and the lack of Charging Stations @ Cap Metro,( Opps!)the Transit Agency has announced that they will be Storing the New Buses for @ least 1 year, and have signed a Lease @ a Closed Automotive Dealer @ which to store them.

 

[joelkfla]

Due to the Bankruptcy of the Company( Proterra) that made Austin's 46 New Electric Buses,( Cost: 35 Million Dollars) and the lack of Charging Stations @ Cap Metro,( Opps!)the Transit Agency has announced that they will be Storing the New Buses for @ least 1 year, and have signed a Lease @ a Closed Automotive Dealer @ which to store them.

Details:
https://www.kut.org/transportation/2024-11-18/austin-texas-capital-metro-electric-buses

 

[west point]

There are posts all over internet about EVs will lack charging stations.

 

[PVD]

When you buy from a company without a long-term track record you roll the dice. Lack of charging equipment is just poor planning. If you bought 50 diesel buses and didn't have fuel pumps at the depot it would be the same thing. If they had gone Nova or New Flyer this would not be happening.

 

[The Journalist]

Proterra has been on borrowed time for a while. Their buses were more tech demo/prototype than suited to constant operation; major components were held together with glue, which didn't stand up to the sort of rough treatment a transit bus is subject to.

 

[PVD]

Didn't Philly have issues with Proterra?

 

[Asher]

Due to the Bankruptcy of the Company( Proterra) that made Austin's 46 New Electric Buses,( Cost: 48 Million Dollars) and the lack of Charging Stations @ Cap Metro,( Opps!)the Transit Agency has announced that they will be Storing the New Buses for @ least 1 year, and have signed a Lease @ a Closed Automotive Dealer @ which to store them.

Proterra has manufactured various models over the years. With hydrogen power going away and the move to batteries, I guess, to allow for the weight of batteries they went to a composite frames that use a mix of resin, fiberglass, carbon fiber, balsa wood, and steel reinforcement plates that have cracking issues. That along with inflation that has caused the price of chargers to increase has parked these busses. They must be thinking time will heal.

 

[caravanman]

We have new electric buses in Nottingham. They seem to work well, the drivers say they are good to drive. Made in china. Photo taken outside my front door, which is quite handy for the free rides us old folks get!

 

[PVD]

We have new electric buses in Nottingham. They seem to work well, the drivers say they are good to drive. Made in china. Photo taken outside my front door, which is quite handy for the free rides us old folks get!

View attachment 38394

I believe those are Yutong, I don't think they are sold in the US. BYD which is also Chinese opened a factory in the US, and has gotten some decent orders, including LA

 

[BlackDiamond]

London's TfL recently converted a route to Electric Bus, route 358 which is a long route South of the city. Geoff Marshall has a video of this route:



The buses are made by Irizar a Spanish company that has been around a while. They have 2 charging stations one at each end of the line with pantographs that contact the buses for a quick charge between runs.

 

[PVD]

The ability to do some charging while on the road greatly increase range. It is a feature I've seen offered on NOVA and New Flyer as well. The charging systems are brand agnostic, which is critical for real world application.