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| Proterra EcoRide™ BE35 is an all electric bus. |
Newington, CT – Today at the Connecticut Department of Transportation Office, a new type of bus was shown and test driven. The Proterra EcoRide™ BE35 is an all electric bus. It will be expanding its public service this year to six transit authorities. It has already been in use for about a year now at Foothill Transit in the San Gabriel Valley northeast of Los Angeles, and it has been featured on Jay Leno’s Garage channel. Also the Worcester (MA) Regional Transit Authority will receive three transit buses along with the on-route charging station provided by a $4.4-million Federal Transit Authority Clean Fuels grant.
Proterra’s on-route fast charge system allows the bus to “automatically connect to an overhead system that links the bus to a high-capacity charger without driver involvement. The bus is then rapidly charged in 5-10 minutes while passengers load and unload,” as stated on the company’s website.
The composite body of the bus reduces the weight of the bus by 20-40% of a traditional steel or aluminum transit bus while still being crash and element resistant meaning more batteries can be added without going over weight. The battery cells sit on the bottom of the bus to give even weight distribution and a low center of gravity.
The ride on the bus was very quiet. The noise only noise came from the air conditioner’s compressor, which the company says they are working to reduce that noise as well. There was absolutely no diesel smell, in fact, one rider said “it has a new car smell.”
The bus is the first of its kind to pass the rigorous testing of the Altoona Bus Research and Testing Center. “The technology is proven; out company is performing and winning orders as a result,” says Garrett Mikita, president and CEO of Proterra, Greenville, SC.
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