The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Unless it‘s an EV.In Edmonton’s case, most of its much-hyped fleet of electric buses are sitting idle in transit garages for lack of spare parts after their American manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US..“The ETS deployment showcases how to successfully implement an electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure for current fleet needs, as well as plan for expansion in the near future.“Proterra CEO Jack Allen.In 2020, the city purchased 60 of the EV units at a cost of $1 million each, partly funded with loans from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Now the city is on a list of creditors, seeking $1.3 million for fulfillment of service contracts and warranties from San Francisco-based Proterra in bankruptcy proceedings.When it was announced, the deal was touted as the largest electric bus purchase in Canadian history. To coincide with the new fleet, Edmonton also unveiled the new Kathleen Andrews Garage, named after its first woman transit operator who worked for the city for 23 years.The original press release is still up on its website, dated July 23, 2020.“This is one of the most impressive end-to-end deployments of battery-electric transit buses we’ve seen in North America,” said Jack Allen, CEO of Proterra. “The ETS deployment showcases how to successfully implement an electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure for current fleet needs, as well as plan for expansion in the near future. We are proud to partner with ETS to deliver clean, quiet transportation to Edmonton.”.That all changed after Proterra filed for creditor protection in August, citing a backlog of performance penalties for failing to deliver contracted units on time.In addition to Edmonton, Proterra has supplied buses for the Toronto Transit Commission, the Bow Valley Regional Transit System in Banff and BC Transit.It also comes after the City of Calgary in June announced plans to send $325 million in federal dollars through the Canada Infrastructure Bank to buy 259 new electric buses. The deal was announced by Mayor Jyoti Gondek alongside Dominic LeBlanc, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Calgary-Skyview MP George Chahal on June 19.The city had hoped to pull the plug on about a quarter of its diesel and natural gas fuelled fleet in a bid to achieve net-zero by 2050.It was described as a “transformational” effort to electrify transit in Alberta..In real word conditions it has a range of about 117 km or about three hours run time before it needs to be recharged for four hours..But if Edmonton’s experience is any indication, Calgary might want to think again.That’s because each unit requires an onboard diesel-powered heater to keep riders warm in the ‘Chuk’s cold winters. Not to mention $200,000 battery blankets to preserve the albeit limited range of the power cells themselves.According to Proterra, its buses can go 340 km on a charge — a world record — but in real word conditions it has a range of about 117 km or about three hours run time before it needs to be recharged for four hours.By contrast, a diesel bus can hit the streets at 4:30 am and run for 21 hours without having to be refuelled.For decades Edmonton had a trolley system of electric buses run off overhead power lines in its inner-city streets, but those were gradually replaced by diesels. Now the city is looking to hydrogen to replace the entire lot.Proterra is looking for a third party to take over its residual claims, including outstanding service work, but there’s a good chance Edmonton will wind up with little or nothing against its unsecured claim.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Unless it‘s an EV.In Edmonton’s case, most of its much-hyped fleet of electric buses are sitting idle in transit garages for lack of spare parts after their American manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US..“The ETS deployment showcases how to successfully implement an electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure for current fleet needs, as well as plan for expansion in the near future.“Proterra CEO Jack Allen.In 2020, the city purchased 60 of the EV units at a cost of $1 million each, partly funded with loans from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Now the city is on a list of creditors, seeking $1.3 million for fulfillment of service contracts and warranties from San Francisco-based Proterra in bankruptcy proceedings.When it was announced, the deal was touted as the largest electric bus purchase in Canadian history. To coincide with the new fleet, Edmonton also unveiled the new Kathleen Andrews Garage, named after its first woman transit operator who worked for the city for 23 years.The original press release is still up on its website, dated July 23, 2020.“This is one of the most impressive end-to-end deployments of battery-electric transit buses we’ve seen in North America,” said Jack Allen, CEO of Proterra. “The ETS deployment showcases how to successfully implement an electric bus fleet and charging infrastructure for current fleet needs, as well as plan for expansion in the near future. We are proud to partner with ETS to deliver clean, quiet transportation to Edmonton.”.That all changed after Proterra filed for creditor protection in August, citing a backlog of performance penalties for failing to deliver contracted units on time.In addition to Edmonton, Proterra has supplied buses for the Toronto Transit Commission, the Bow Valley Regional Transit System in Banff and BC Transit.It also comes after the City of Calgary in June announced plans to send $325 million in federal dollars through the Canada Infrastructure Bank to buy 259 new electric buses. The deal was announced by Mayor Jyoti Gondek alongside Dominic LeBlanc, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Calgary-Skyview MP George Chahal on June 19.The city had hoped to pull the plug on about a quarter of its diesel and natural gas fuelled fleet in a bid to achieve net-zero by 2050.It was described as a “transformational” effort to electrify transit in Alberta..In real word conditions it has a range of about 117 km or about three hours run time before it needs to be recharged for four hours..But if Edmonton’s experience is any indication, Calgary might want to think again.That’s because each unit requires an onboard diesel-powered heater to keep riders warm in the ‘Chuk’s cold winters. Not to mention $200,000 battery blankets to preserve the albeit limited range of the power cells themselves.According to Proterra, its buses can go 340 km on a charge — a world record — but in real word conditions it has a range of about 117 km or about three hours run time before it needs to be recharged for four hours.By contrast, a diesel bus can hit the streets at 4:30 am and run for 21 hours without having to be refuelled.For decades Edmonton had a trolley system of electric buses run off overhead power lines in its inner-city streets, but those were gradually replaced by diesels. Now the city is looking to hydrogen to replace the entire lot.Proterra is looking for a third party to take over its residual claims, including outstanding service work, but there’s a good chance Edmonton will wind up with little or nothing against its unsecured claim.
