But we will come to diesel truck alternatives such as Cummins and Tesla on another Friday. And the 2022 all-electric VW Bus, currently known as the I. D. Buzz. In the meantime, more Good News! on electric bus costs.
Of course, we still get some of the same moldy old denialist lies about electric buses costing more than diesel, and where will all of the extra electricity come from? Coal, right? Because there are not and cannot be enough renewable resources. Like we are going to run out of sunlight, LOL. No, we see the actual numbers. These lies can also fall down dead now.
The rest of the world will struggle for years to match China’s rapid embrace of electric transit.
The global e-bus fleet grew about 32% in 2018, according to a BloombergNEF report, “Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019”.
The whole world recognizes these facts, and more.
The UK Guardian reported in December that “more than 30 Chinese cities have made plans to achieve 100% electrified public transit by 2020,” including such megacities as Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shandong.
China’s Electric Buses Save More Diesel Than All Electric Cars Combined
According to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), electric buses will save an astounding 270,000 barrels of diesel demand in 2019—every single day.
Not gallons—barrels. Every day.
For comparison, 1,000 electric cars displace 15 barrels of oil demand a day.
Shenzhen, a fast-growing megacity with 12 million inhabitants, is the vanguard of electric buses, with a fleet of 16,000 of them. More than 30 Chinese cities have plans to reach 100 percent electrified public transit by 2020.
Worth repeating. 2020. And where is the US? In the Trump Dump. But we have our own plan for 2020. The Dump Trump plan.
But electric buses aren’t just winning because they have no tailpipe emissions. They are also so efficient they have one-fourth the per-mile fueling cost of regular diesel buses and the other alternatives.
Siemens finds 75% carbon emissions reduction potential for Pittsburgh by 2030
Pittsburgh could reduce its carbon emissions almost 75% by 2030, improving air quality and creating 110,000 new jobs, according to results from the Siemens City Performance Tool (CyPT).
The city could exceed its goal to reduce carbon emissions 50% by 2030, an analysis found, through implementing solar electricity generation and expanding district heating systems, electric buses and car-sharing initiatives, and non-residential building automation systems.
The Siemens tool launched in 2015, helping cities understand the benefits of linking climate, innovation and jobs. It has already helped city planners and managers in a dozen cities, including Orlando, FL; Washington, DC; and Charlotte, NC to measure the environmental and economic impacts of infrastructural technologies.
An integrated approach to solving Global Warming that also fixes the economy! I've heard of that!
Renewable Friday: AOC and the Green New Deal
Renewable Friday: Inslee's Got a Plan, and Beto's Got a Plan, and All God's Chillun Got Plans
Also note that this Pittsburgh story is typical when ignorant politicians make plans and then ask in the experts after, and we get much better news as a result. Which is happening in almost every country.
The US, of course, stands out for making less than no plans, and doing everything possible to get in the way.
Renewable Friday: The Trump Effect
But there is a second-order Trump effect, known as Throwing the Bums Out.
Like in Kansas after Gov. White Supremacist/Voodoo Economics True Believer Kris Kobach, who seems determined to throw another Senate seat our way for much the same reason.
Don't get me started on Brexit. Please.
Manufacturers
Wikipedia: List of electric bus makers and models
Electric buses are being built all over the US, in Europe, in China, in India, in Russia, in Belarus, and in Uganda. Not every manufacturer is on that list. From elsewhere on Wikipedia:
In October 2016, Ashok Leyland, launched the first 100% India-made electric bus.
In 2018 in Moscow was presented and officially run for the first time a city electric bus. Moscow Government has subscribed contracts with GAZ and Kamaz automobile companies to provide the city with 200 electric buses. After 2021 only electric vehicles will be purchased.
Hyundai Debuts Electric Double Decker Bus With 186 Mile Range
At the Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Technology Fair in South Korea last week, Hyundai took the wraps off its latest project — a 70-passenger double decker electric bus. 18 months in development, the bus features a 384 kWh water cooled polymer battery. It can travel up to 186 miles on a single charge and can be recharged in just 72 minutes.
So, like, Portland OR to Seattle WA, 174 miles, just about. Depending where in town.
School Buses
Wikipedia: Electric bus, Battery electric bus
In 2014, the first production-model all-electric school bus was delivered[23] to the Kings Canyon Unified School District in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The Class-A school bus was built by Trans Tech Bus, using an electric powertrain control system developed by Motiv Power Systems, of Foster City, California. The bus was one of four the district ordered. The first round of SST-e buses (as they are called) is partly funded by the AB 118 Air Quality Improvement Program administered by the California Air Resources Board.
Governor [Inslee] to test drive first all-electric school bus in Tacoma [WA]
No, I didn't find a photo of him at the wheel on the day.
Senate Bill Seeks to Replace Diesel School Buses with Electric
A partisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Kamala Harris would authorize $2 million to pay the incremental cost of replacing diesel school buses with new electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
You go, Senator!
ABB Technology Supports TriMet’s Wind-Powered All-Electric Buses In Portland, Oregon Area
Elsewhere
California Mandates Zero-Emission Buses at Its Largest Airports
The Chicago City Council on Wednesday unanimously voted to commit to 100% renewable energy by 2035, making it the largest U.S. city thus far to do so.
The Mayor's Office Sustainability Team will be responsible for developing a citywide transition plan for 100% clean energy by December 2020. The resolution also calls for complete electrification of the Chicago Transportation Authority (CTA)'s bus fleet by 2040.
5 per cent of city buses registered in 2018 in Europe were electric buses
Paris fights smog with biggest ever EU electric bus purchase, 800 e-buses to replace diesel
Electric bus, main fleets and projects around the world
India (70,000 buses sold in 2017) is a market with big potential, when even a small part of the orders will be electric. And United States? Market penetration was at about 0.5% of the total U.S. public transit bus market at the end of 2017, but in the same time 9% of all transit agencies either had electric buses in service or on order.
At the end of 2018, the largest fleet of electric bus in Europe is the one operated by Connexxion around Schipol airport. VDL Bus & Coach has supplied 100 electric buses to Connexxion (part of Transdev) for the Amstelland Meerlanden concession, which were put in service on 1 April 2018.
Electric bus in Uk, Stagecoach docet
105 new double decker units of electric bus to be introduced in the fleet between 2019 and 2020.
Solaris, the main European electric bus manufacturer
One of the European leader in electric bus manufacturing, in 2018, is Solaris Bus & Coach. The company, Polish-based but taken over by Spanish group CAF, a change followed by the designation of Javier Calleja as new Ceo, will reinforce the fleet of Hamburg public transport operator Hochbahn with 10 Solaris Urbino 12 electric. The Senate of Hamburg has decided that, as of 2020, all buses bought by local carriers should be electric zero-emission vehicles.
Volvo, the voice of electric bus in the Nordics
Volvo Buses has been the first manufacturer to stop the production and commercialization of dieseI buses for European market, at the moment of the entrance into force of Euro VI standard. Volvo hometown, Gotheburg, has taken the lead in the transition to zero emission bus system in Sweden. Volvo Buses, indeed, in 2018 received an order for 30 electric buses 7900 from Gs Buss, subsidiary of Göteborgs Spårvägar, and Public Transport Authority Västtrafik. It is the biggest order so far for all-electric buses in Sweden (former biggest order was the one received by VDL from Umeå municipality, consisting of 25 e-buses), and also Volvo Buses’ biggest order to date for this model.
Mercedes eCitaro, the electric version of a besteller
While VDL, Solaris, Volvo and Irizar began in advance to realize electric buses, other big manufacturers such as Mercedes, MAN and Iveco are going to start electric bus production in 2019-2020. In summer 2018 Mercedes showcased the eCitaro, its first battery electric bus, before the world premiere at IAA 2018.
And India? An interesting electric bus market
The consulting company Interact Analysis have been tracking publicly confirmed orders for city electric buses totalling 932 units as well as publicly stated intentions to order a total of 1243 units since the start of 2018 to October of the same year. Excluding China, this accounts for more than 24.9% of the global orders we’re tracking.
In US electric bus adoption + 83% in 2017
According to the consulting company Eb Start Consulting, during 2017 the number of electric buses delivered to US public transit agencies grew 83 percent (182 electric buses in service at 1/1/17, 383 one year later). Although market penetration remains low at about 0.5% of the total U.S. public transit bus market, 9% of all transit agencies either had electric buses in service or on order at the end of 2017. The market leaders? Proterra and BYD, both of which have recently tripled their manufacturing capacity to keep up with the demand. New Flyer come third.
Things are changing in the US
In 2018 Foothill Transit (that operate just outside Los Angeles) has ordered its first double decker electric bus (and first double decker as well).
A double premiere on the streets of the Californian city. The buses will be realized by Alexander Dennis, a real authority in the field, with Proterra’s battery system and drivetrain technology, and will hit the road from 2019.
IndyGo, the largest public transportation provider in the American state of Indiana, and BYD announced the delivery of the first K11 60-foot (18 meters) battery electric bus to serve Indianapolis. The bus is the first of 13 ordered for the Red Line by IndyGo (also 18 electric buses have been reportedly ordered for the planned Purple Line).
Latin America, electric bus transition. Now!
Between 2018 and 2019 two important south American cities announced big plans of transition to electric buses of their public transport fleet. Chile aims to have the second largest electric bus fleet in the world after China. Santiago de Chile already received 200 electric buses from China: half are Yutong branded, the other half are BYD buses. Santiago paved the way, Medellin follows. A few weeks after the delivery of 100 BYD electric buses to Santiago, the Colombian city ordered 64 zero emission buses from BYD, thus making the first steps towards the first electric fleet in the Latin American country.
They're everywhere! And that was only a selection from the article. And there is much more.
Electric Bus Orders More Than Doubled Last Year In Europe
Electric vehicles could account for more than half of all passenger cars and buses sold throughout the world within the next two decades, according to a new report by BloombergNEF. Sliding lithium-ion battery costs will make EVs cheaper than vehicles based on internal combustion engines by the mid- to late-2020s, the research firm says.
Indian engineering giant Bharat Heavy Electricals to work on e-mobility
Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals and the Automotive Research Association of India will combine their respective strengths in technology development and testing and certification to work on electric and trolley buses, EV chargers and battery and charger testing.
BYD Delivers The First Fleet Of Electric Buses To Argentina
BYD Lands Deal For 15 Electric Buses In Madrid
CleanTechnica: BYD Joint Venture To Launch New Electric Bus Production Facility In India
The announcement to set up a second production facility comes just days after the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) to invite proposals from states, government departments, transportation departments, and municipal bodies for the procurement of 5,000 electric buses across 40 cities. Participating cities shall receive subsidies worth US$360 million to procure these buses.
Olectra-BYD plans to supply 500 electric buses between April 2019 and March 2020. The company aims to achieve the sale of 2,000 by March 2021. The company is optimistic about electric bus business in India due to the rapidly increasing number of orders and tenders from cities across the country.
At military production facilities, but for both military and civilian use.
Chinese-built electric buses have hit the streets of Marrakesh, Morocco. The 15 buses are part of Morocco's efforts to reduce its carbon emissions. The first group of buses were officially launched into operation in a ceremony attended by various delegates, including the deputy mayor, Chinese ambassador Li Li and engineers from Yangtze company where the buses were built. The fleet of buses are powered solely by electricity. They have batteries that can be charged through antennas as they take passengers around the city. Morocco has stepped up its effort in developing green energy and technology. Last year during the COP-22 climate conference in Marrakech, Yangtze's buses were already doing test runs for the participants.
Case study: Introducing electric buses to the City of Tshwane [South Africa]
China’s BYD wins second electric bus order in tough to crack Africa market
The Shenzhen-based company, which sold 14,000 electric buses globally last year, wants to build on its leadership position in other parts of the continent
Every five weeks, the country adds the equivalent of London’s entire fleet to its streets.
BYD is expanding globally as well. It now has an assembly factory in California, making its buses available to cities across the United States. Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Baton Rouge, and Columbia, Missouri, have all ordered electric buses from BYD in the past two years.
According to the company’s own estimates, the BYD buses currently in use around the world have logged at least 10 billion miles, saving up to 1.8 billion gallons of fuel since 2011—enough to power 1,700,000 homes—and preventing about 16 million tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted.
The BNEF report predicts that by 2025, nearly half of the world’s buses will be electrified, reaching 1.2 billion buses—triple fold from 2017’s 386,000 buses. With support from its government and the collaboration between cities, China will be leading this growth, with its manufacturers making 99 percent of the world’s electric buses. Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Chile, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, South Africa, Japan, and Thailand are among the countries that already have BYD’s electric buses rolling down their streets.
Santiago (Chile) Adding 200 Electric Buses In 2019
Continental Launches New Tire Built Specifically For Urban Electric Buses
That is, for the greater weight of electric buses with huge battery packs, and for handling the enormous torques generated by electric motors when accelerating from a stop.
Akasol plans to build new battery factory near Detroit
The German battery manufacturer will make products for electric trucks and buses at the facility, which is expected to employ 200 workers and produce 400 megawatt-hours of batteries annually.
Obstacles
Now, it's not all plain sailing.
Why U.S. Cities Aren’t Using More Electric Buses
There are all sorts of problems, such as the structure of city finances, existing contracts, and politics. There are also the issues of where to place chargers, and how to add that much electrical capacity. It requires getting buy-in from all stakeholders, and careful planning, sometimes for years.
But here is a potential solution to one of the major financial issues.
Proterra Rolls Out $200 Million Electric Bus Battery Leasing Program With Mitsui
Electric buses require more upfront investment than their diesel counterparts. Or at least they used to.
Proterra's $200 million battery lease credit facility could conceivably unlock 1,000 new bus purchases, Popple said. The credit facility is three times larger than the amount of money the U.S. federal government makes available each year for bus electrification, he noted.
And look! Here is one of those sales now!
Charlotte Airport In North Carolina Adds 5 Proterra Electric Buses
Many city bus operations have separate procurement and maintenance budgets. This makes it extremely difficult for them to incur higher upfront costs in order to save later on fuel and repairs. Proterra proposes to take battery cost, the biggest part of the issue, out of the procurement equation, and allow cities to put the lease payments into the maintenance budget. The lease agreement extends to replacement battery packs as well, at no extra cost.
At present, an electric bus can cost $250,000 more than a comparable diesel-powered bus, but with lifetime savings on the order of $400,000. That premium is of course declining rapidly but we don't want to have to wait for it to go away in order to get on with the program. Proterra and its financial partners are cleverly getting around the problem at a profit.
BTW, the same is true for electric car leases. If you are thinking about a new electric, look into the lease options and compare monthly payments. Not just what the dealers offer, because they are trying to make up for their losses on ongoing maintenance with every EV they sell.
On the gripping hand, electric buses will become cheaper than diesel buses with better batteries, just as electric cars will soon beat out gas guzzlers. It is expected to take a few years more for buses, with their huge battery packs, but it will perhaps be in the late rather than the early 2020s.
Other Technologies
Ultracapacitors
Capa vehicle
The best ultracapacitors can only store about 5% of the energy that lithium-ion rechargeable batteries can, limiting them to a couple of miles per charge. This makes them ineffective as a general energy storage medium for passenger vehicles. But ultracapacitors can charge much faster than batteries, so in vehicles such as buses that have to stop frequently at known points where charging facilities can be provided, energy storage based exclusively on ultracapacitors becomes viable.
Sinautec is in discussions with MIT's Schindall about developing ultracapacitors of higher energy density using vertically aligned carbon nanotube structures that give the devices more surface area for holding a charge. So far they are able to get twice the energy density of an existing ultracapacitor, but they are trying to get about five times. This would create an ultracapacitor with one-quarter of the energy density of a lithium-ion battery.
Future developments includes the use of inductive charging under the street, to avoid overhead wiring. A pad under each bus stop and at each stop light along the way would be used.
Flywheel Buses
Gyrobus
A gyrobus is an electric bus that uses flywheel energy storage, not overhead wires like a trolleybus. The name comes from the Greek language term for flywheel, gyros. While there are no gyrobuses currently in use commercially, development in this area continues.
The concept of a flywheel-powered bus was developed and brought to fruition during the 1940s by Oerlikon (of Switzerland).
The first full commercial service began in October 1953, linking the Swiss communities of Yverdon-les-Bains and Grandson. However, this was a route with limited traffic potential, and although technically successful it was not commercially viable. Services ended in late October 1960.
Self-Driving Buses
Autonomous Buses Will Revolutionize Public Transportation, but at What Cost?
Not a reality today, but several manufacturers are testing various versions. Self-driving buses will not text or talk on the phone while driving, or show up to work drunk or drugged, or engage in other risky behaviors. They are expected to save considerable numbers of lives.
Your Homework
- What is happening with the bus system where you live?
- Do your authorities understand how much this is worth?
- Are they doing anything about it?
- Who is pushing them? (What organizations should we join?)
- What about your politicians? (This didn't come up in the Presidential debates, but we know that Harris and Inslee, at least, are on the school bus issue.)
- Please write a letter to the editor, or otherwise publicize what you find out.
- Spread this Diary on social media, or wherever.
- Consider writing a Diary on the subject. Talk to me about it, and I will assist.
Here is something else you can do.
Sierra Club Needs Volunteers For Nationwide EV Shopping Survey
It should be fun for you, and educational for the dealers you talk to. I signed up to go to four local dealerships to see if they even have any of their electric models in stock, and what the salespeople say about them. Then I will fill out surveys for the Sierra Club to use along with many others in preparing a national report.
More! More!
As always, there is far more going on than I can cram into a Diary. But this will do to be getting on with, don't you think? And if not, feel free to give us links to more that we should know about electric buses today and tomorrow.
Next week
The Great Green Wall of Africa, all the way across Africa. Billions of drought-resistant native trees, good for fruit, carbon-neutral fuel, construction materials, soil remediation, shade, and supporting numerous plant and animal species.