E-Bus Revolution – Edmonton is a National Leader

Source: David Dodge & Kay Rollans · GREEN ENERGY FUTURES · | December 16, 2020

Electric buses cheaper to maintain and operate

Edmonton has quietly become a national leader in electric buses and, contrary to what you might, think these new zero-emissions vehicles could result in dramatically lower operating costs.

Edmonton has 33 electric buses in service already, silently plying their way through routes across Edmonton. Another seven buses are due for imminent delivery.

“We’re able to take 60 electric buses in our fleet at any one time and our fleet size right now is just under a thousand buses,” says Eddie Robar of Edmonton Transit. “This enables us to look at what the transition of the future looks like.”

That transition Robar is talking about is from a diesel-based transit system to electric—and it’s Robar’s job to oversee the transformation.

This week on Green Energy Futures CKUA Radio Podcase we talk to Eddie Robar about Edmonton's e-bus revolution. The city has quietly become a national leader in electric buses. The city has purchased 40 long-range e-buses, has a high-speed charging system and is looking at the electrification of its entire fleet over time. The City is expecting 30% lower maintenance costs and up to 75% reduced fuel costs. See Green Energy Futures blog, photos and more: https://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/e-bus-revolution-edmonton-is-national-leader

Robar’s team very carefully researched several different electric bus options. Robar himself even visited Shenzhen, China, a city the size of New York with an entirely electric bus system—a fleet of over 16,000 buses. He learned some valuable lessons there. One is the focus on long-range buses. You can buy a few cheaper short-range buses and check off the electric bus box, but then you need chargers in the field and the electric buses are limited in their application.

Robar is pretty jazzed about his first 40 e-buses, especially now that he’s had time to work with them and confirm some of his expectations.