Viktor Musil
Although electric and other zero-emission buses are enjoying their day in the sun, manufacturers are n’t always able to benefit from the industry’s rapid growth in demand.
According to Calstart, a US nonprofit that promotes clean transportation, the number of full-size, zero-emission transit buses andnbsp, on the road and on order or funded increased by 66 % year over year in 2022. US Federal Transit Administration grants given to transit agencies in June 2023 will aid in the purchase of 1, 700 transit buses, almost half of which will be zero-emission vehicles, according to the agency.
But, Proterra, one of the major producers of electronic transit buses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August. On November 13, it consented to sell Phoenix Motor, a medium-duty vehicle electrification provider, its transit bus business, assignment to court approval. A next manufacturer announced it would leave the U.S. market and shut down its upstate New York plant by 2025, while another underwent a$ 444 million refinancing this year.
Some transit agencies are still dedicated to electrifying some or all of their fleets despite these difficulties for bus manufacturers. Yet the regional passenger railroad Amtrak has joined the trend by introducing its earliest electric bus route between Seattle and Bellingham, Washington, to supplement train schedules.
