Tootbus, a prominent sightseeing bus company around Europe, has partnered with electric fleet specialist VEV to deliver more sustainable mobility across its entire operations. Tootbus is currently operating buses that run on hydrotreated vegetable oil but is adopting BEV and solar technology with VEV’s help.
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Have you ever been in the mood to drive an electric bus, and then thought to yourself, “the only thing that could make this better is if the bus was shaped like a marsupial”? Yea, me neither. At least not until I stumbled upon this precious specimen of a koala bus.
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Kenyan electric mobility company ROAM is celebrating its latest milestone in Africa today, as it has launched its latest product – an all-electric shuttle bus called the Move. ROAM’s lineup of electric vehicles continues to grow as the innovative company continues to decarbonize the roads of Kenya and beyond.
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Dutch-based Ebusco delivered its first 3.0 – a standout high-range, lightweight electric bus model – made in serial production.
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Boston Public Schools has kicked off an ambitious new program to eventually convert its entire fleet of 750 vehicles to electric. The first Blue Bird Vision electric school buses are now in service, transporting thousands of students daily in what local government officials are calling the largest electric bus deployment in the Northeast.
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The number of full-size transit zero-emission buses in the US saw a 66% increase since 2021, according to newly released data.
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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.
Now that battery-powered buses are becoming more cost-effective and able to handle almost any urban routes, manufacturers are looking to expand their production to satisfy the demand from transit agencies turning to electric when updating their fleet.
Proterra, a manufacturer of large all-electric buses in the US, has been talking a lot about production expansion lately after sales being up 220% since last year. The company hired Tesla’s former Vice President of Manufacturing to lead the expansion at their facility in Greenville, South Carolina, and their new factory in Los Angeles County.
Last week, the company confirmed having secured an impressive $140 million investment to finance this important expansion of their production capacity.
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While companies like BYD and Proterra are ramping up production of their all-electric buses and delivering them to transit services around the world, the city of Montreal decided to start its fleet of zero-emission vehicles for public transit using a new electric bus developed in Canada and in partnership with the Quebec government.
The deployment was delayed by a few years, but now the city’s public transit agency has received delivery of the new electric buses and will put them to the test early next year.
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A deal between the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) was announced today to award funding for the purchase of “15 Proterra Catalyst buses, 11 Proterra depot-chargers, and 4 Proterra fast-chargers”.
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Over two years ago, Tesla open-sourced all its patents for electric vehicles – a surprising announcement in our IP-centric business climate. CEO Elon Musk explained the move as being in line with Tesla’s mission to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport:
“If we’re all in a ship together and the ship has some holes in it, and we’re sort of bailing water out of it, and we have a great design for a bucket, then even if we’re bailing out way better than everyone else, we should probably still share the bucket design.”
We might get access to yet another bucket design thanks to Proterra, a leading manufacturer of all-electric buses. The bus maker announced today that it will be opening its proprietary “on-route fast-charging technology” on a royalty-free basis.
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Proterra, a leading manufacturer of all-electric buses, unveiled this week a new battery pack to power its Catalyst XR bus pictured above. The new pack holds 28 percent more energy which adds up to an impressive 330 kWh of energy capacity.
As of March 2016, Proterra had 63 buses on the roads across 10 states. Now the company says that all current Catalyst XR customers will receive a complimentary upgrade with the new battery pack.
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Transport for London (TfL) and electric vehicle manufacturer BYD announced last week that the city of London is putting in service its firsts long-range all-electric double-decker buses – picture above.
The first 5 BYD all-electric buses will operate on Route 98 on behalf of TfL by Metroline.
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Daimler released its latest report for its bus division this week and confirmed its plan to bring a battery-powered bus to market in 2018 as part of its E-mobility platform.
The German automaker is planing two powertrain additions to its Citaro bus (see above): E-CELL, the battery-powered version, and F-CELL, the hydrogen fuel cell version.
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The China-based electric car and bus manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) announced the delivery of the world’s largest electric bus fleet to the city of Shenzhen in China.
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While Beijing completely shutdown today after issuing its first ever ‘Red Alert’ over smog, the city also announced the opening of an impressive new electric bus charging complex in the Chaoyang district. The station features 25 chargers at 360 kW and 5 chargers at 90 kW, making it one of the most powerful charging station for electric vehicles in the world.
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The city of Sion in Switzerland approved a pilot project with two all-electric and fully autonomous buses which will hit the road as soon as spring 2016. The project could become the first fully autonomous public transportation system in operation.
The buses are being introduced in collaboration with the city of Sion, France-based electric bus manufacturer Navya and self-driving software firm BestMile.
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The China-based electric car and bus manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) announced today that it won an important request of proposal from Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for a contract to supply up to 800 electric buses to state transit authorities, agencies, universities, or institutions.
The deal simplifies the procurement process, now any transit agency or public institution in Washington is able to order electric buses from BYD’s selection of 30 to 60 feet battery-powered buses.
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Proterra impresses again with its entirely battery-powered bus: the Catalyst XR. The South Carolina-based company announced today that its 40-foot bus drove 258 miles on a single charge under test conditions at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds (LPG).
It’s without a doubt an impressive feat to power a ~27,500 lbs vehicle for 285 miles on batteries alone…
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