Proterra, in partnership with the Calif.-based San Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD), was awarded a California Energy Commission (CEC) grant in the amount of $2.56 million towards an electric bus demonstration project valued at over $4 million.
The demonstration project will introduce the San Joaquin RTD’s first fully electric buses into service, reducing energy consumption, waste and pollution in California’s Central Valley, an area of strategic importance to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The grant award includes two new EcoRide BE35 battery-electric buses for RTD’s operating fleet. Proterra will also provide the automated fastcharging station for RTD’s Downtown Transit Center.
The buses and charge station will be delivered to RTD in the spring of 2013.
Proterra’s EcoRide BE35 battery-electric buses recharge in less than 10 minutes. The 35-foot long buses are made of lightweight composite materials and are powered with state of the art battery technology. As a result, the buses have zero emissions, run virtually silent and are 600% more fuel efficient than diesel buses, according to company officials.