Most of the news about electric vehicles relates to passenger cars. We hear about Teslas, Leafs, and hydrogen-powered Toyotas all the time. But there is also an expanding fleet of electric and fuel cell buses starting to appear on urban streets in several countries, including the U.S. and China.
Partly electric buses have been around for quite a while. In fact, gasoline-electric and diesel-electric hybrid buses make up about 17% of the U.S. fleet. But only a tiny number of buses are fully powered by fuel cells or batteries.
This is starting to change. BYD Motors, a Chinese company that has already made over 5,000 electric buses worldwide, is starting to deliver the first of a 25-bus order to LA Metro, the major bus and rail operator for Los Angeles County. The company is entering the U.S. market in a big way, having opened two factories in California: one to make the batteries and one to make the buses. It expects to sell 200 electric buses in the U.S. this year.
Transit officials are interested in the environmental benefits of zero-emission buses and also want the long-term price stability inherent in vehicles that are not affected by fluctuations in fossil fuel prices. Cost is the biggest obstacle, since a typical diesel bus costs about $450,000 while electric models can cost nearly twice as much. On the other hand, the operating and maintenance costs of these buses will be much lower.
CALSTART, a nonprofit group that works with companies and transit agencies, predicts that zero-emission buses will account for 20% of the transit bus market by 2020.
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Web Links
Tesla for the Masses: Electric, Fuel Cell Buses Take Off
Photo, posted September 13,2013, courtesy of the MTA via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.