All battery/electric bus fleet

[colliehauler]

On Thursdays Wichita KS will convert it's bus fleet to all battery/electric bus fleet. With set routes and know range I think this is a wise use of a electric vehicle.

[RobertRyan]

rjstractor wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
I would thing school buses would be a good fit. Charge overnight, then if needed, some charge in the daytime between runs. Maybe solar on the roof of bus to do a little daytime charge?

Electric school buses are already on the market. With a 155 kwh battery they might offer enough range for typical school district usage. When I drove bus many years ago a typical bus would do about 7 or 8 runs a day, with a total distance of 80-100 miles per day. The claimed 120 mile range would work on a good day, but during cold, rainy weather power use would climb. There's a couple hours of down time during the day where buses could get a little "bump" to their batteries. A 200 kwh battery might give enough range to make the buses a little more practical. Upgrading the electrical systems at the bus barns would be a significant expense that school districts might be reluctant to invest in.

Electric Buses are already running around Australia, this is a Chinese based one, but SEA an Australian company has an order for 200 of its step in Vans from the US
Volgenest largest Australian Bus maker goes Electric

[RobertRyan]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Indianapolis just did this, and when weather got cold, they failed.
Good luck!

Edit:
I just checked, the article is till out there. Click here.

Another... Good luck!

Talk about cold, Kamaz in Russia, has Electric Busess running around Moscow
Kamaz Electric Buses

[Reisender]

The uptake of EV’s is currently higher in cold climates than warm ones. For us EV’s are considerably more convenient than liquid fueled vehicles. But, everyone has different needs. Buy what suits your needs.

[wilber1]

Edmonton is buying 50 electric buses. -30C winter temperatures are not unusual. Interesting.

[JRscooby]

rjstractor wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
I would thing school buses would be a good fit. Charge overnight, then if needed, some charge in the daytime between runs. Maybe solar on the roof of bus to do a little daytime charge?

Electric school buses are already on the market. With a 155 kwh battery they might offer enough range for typical school district usage. When I drove bus many years ago a typical bus would do about 7 or 8 runs a day, with a total distance of 80-100 miles per day. The claimed 120 mile range would work on a good day, but during cold, rainy weather power use would climb. There's a couple hours of down time during the day where buses could get a little "bump" to their batteries. A 200 kwh battery might give enough range to make the buses a little more practical. Upgrading the electrical systems at the bus barns would be a significant expense that school districts might be reluctant to invest in.

Yes, would need to upgrade power to barn. Of course one of my rants is parents that need to load kids in car, and set at the bus stop. Bet in my area it would average 3 cars idling all the time bus is running...

[rjstractor]

JRscooby wrote:
I would thing school buses would be a good fit. Charge overnight, then if needed, some charge in the daytime between runs. Maybe solar on the roof of bus to do a little daytime charge?

Electric school buses are already on the market. With a 155 kwh battery they might offer enough range for typical school district usage. When I drove bus many years ago a typical bus would do about 7 or 8 runs a day, with a total distance of 80-100 miles per day. The claimed 120 mile range would work on a good day, but during cold, rainy weather power use would climb. There's a couple hours of down time during the day where buses could get a little "bump" to their batteries. A 200 kwh battery might give enough range to make the buses a little more practical. Upgrading the electrical systems at the bus barns would be a significant expense that school districts might be reluctant to invest in.

[time2roll]

free radical wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
Indianapolis just did this, and when weather got cold, they failed.
Good luck!

Edit:
I just checked, the article is till out there. Click here.

Another... Good luck!

Theres that Chinese quality again

Buy Canadian next time

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/03/21/news/many-canadian-transit-agencies-are-missing-made-canada-electric-buses-says-new

Failure seems a bit strong by what is written in the link.

[free_radical]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Indianapolis just did this, and when weather got cold, they failed.
Good luck!

Edit:
I just checked, the article is till out there. Click here.

Another... Good luck!

Theres that Chinese quality again

Buy Canadian next time

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/03/21/news/many-canadian-transit-agencies-are-missing-made-canada-electric-buses-says-new

[BenK]

Easy, or at least to my thinking...

Known issue with any battery's performance in low temp operations.

Then manage to that

• Increase battery capacity to account for their drop in performance
• Heat the batteries
• Instead of all of the suggestions on powering them along the ride...just have plug-in stations throughout their route
• supplement it with on-board ICE's during the winter months

[colliehauler]

JRscooby wrote:
I would thing school buses would be a good fit. Charge overnight, then if needed, some charge in the daytime between runs. Maybe solar on the roof of bus to do a little daytime charge?

Could be if they have enough range in winter.

[JRscooby]

I would thing school buses would be a good fit. Charge overnight, then if needed, some charge in the daytime between runs. Maybe solar on the roof of bus to do a little daytime charge?

[time2roll]

Grit dog wrote:

LanceRKeys wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Best way to gain knowledge is to get out there are do the impossible. Fear of failure and setbacks holds too many people down in life.

Reply of the year.

......on the taxpayers nickel.

Good chance it will be a nickel saved for the public. Do you have comprehensive information otherwise?

More fear factor and FUD.

[Grit_dog]

LanceRKeys wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Best way to gain knowledge is to get out there are do the impossible. Fear of failure and setbacks holds too many people down in life.

Reply of the year.

......on the taxpayers nickel.

[time2roll]

Inductive is closer to 80% to 90% efficient depending on how well the target can line up.

Yes conductive can be used. I have read a reverse pantograph has been successful. These would generally be deployed at one or two stops on route where the driver takes a break. Guessing close to 200+ kW for 15-20 minutes. Not to fully charge but to extend the range.