Kiepe Electric and Seattle’s King County Metro reached a $26 million agreement for Kiepe to supply new, improved battery packs for the agency’s trolley fleet. 

Metro’s current fleet of 174 trolley buses went into service from 2015 through 2017. The fleet had off wire capabilities that were state of the art for the time, allowing buses to detour around incidents and construction for short distances.

It’s now time to replace the batteries that power the trolleys and to simultaneously take advantage of the stronger batteries now available. 

In addition to being selected to provide the new batteries, Kiepe Electric is also the manufacturer of the original propulsion systems for Metro’s trolley fleet.

Bringing Increased Power

The new battery packs will provide 72 kwh to each trolley — nearly triple the energy capacity of the current battery packs. 

The increased power is expected to extend the range of operation off wire for when there are incidents blocking the trolley route, or nearby construction activity that requires deenergizing the overhead wires that power the system. 

Currently, larger disruptions meant that Metro had to temporarily replace affected trolleys with diesel hybrid buses. However, the new  extended range will allow the electric trolleys to continue to operate, helping Metro reduce our emissions.

How the System Works

The batteries are charged while traveling “in-motion,” so no other infrastructure upgrades are needed outside of the bus batteries and charging components. 

The new batteries were tested in four of Metro’s trolleys — two 40-foot trolleys and two 60-foot trolleys — for over 1,000 miles. The tests confirmed the new battery systems provide substantially more off wire range than the battery systems on the existing trolley fleet.

The new batteries will ensure the trolleys will keep rolling into the next generation.