Electric bus - 1100 kilometers in 24 hours on electric

While electric cars make headlines, electric buses silently take to the roads, and in practice show that they too can compete.

Electric buses are actually a great alternative to the diesel monsters mass-produced in the past, but they suffer from one important limitation: travel distance. A Proterra electric bus assembled in South Carolina is defying restrictions by simply breaking the world record for the number of kilometers traveled per day.

As part of a test conducted last month, one of the Proterra electric buses traveled more than 700 miles (1126.54 km) over 24 hours on a route designed to simulate suburban (longer routes at high speeds) and centrally urban (driving with more stops) terrain and corresponding driving cycles.

The bus ran at an average speed of 29 mph (46.67 km/h), with active ventilation and air conditioning, charging periodically throughout the day using Proterra's own fast charging stations, which can charge the bus in less time than it takes to charge a mobile phone.



The cost of the test trip was equivalent to a fuel consumption of 27 MPGe (mile per gallon), which in turn is 6 times lower than the cost of a trip on a diesel bus and 7 times lower than the operating costs of a bus fueled with liquefied natural gas. This is a significant savings on fuel costs and a positive factor for clean urban air. Although, of course, it takes about an hour to recharge the bus, and up to two hours if it is completely discharged.

At the heart of Proterra’s high-efficiency public transport concept is its incredibly lightweight body design with modern composite materials, as well as a relatively small battery that can be charged quickly and frequently – unlike traditional attempts to fit as many batteries as possible into a standard chassis. The Proterra platform, already tested by distance and time, proves the correctness of the chosen approach.



The key for companies like Proterra will be to prove to big cities that electric buses can be much more efficient and cost-effective than buses that use diesel, natural gas or hybrid buses, given the cost of charging infrastructure and the time it takes to charge.

Proterra’s electric buses have now covered more than 340,000 miles (547,176 km) of commercial routes in San Antonio, Texas; Worcester, Massachusetts; Reno, Nevada; Pomona and Stockton, California; Tallahassee, Florida.
Additional buses will enter service in Nashville and Louisville shortly.

Proterra is a leader in the design and manufacture of sustainable public transport, enabling transport companies to significantly reduce operating costs by providing green services to society.





Source: facepla.net