The Augusta Transit Department has a third electric bus manufacturer spending a few days in the Garden City. Riders are being treated to free rides during the test drive.
Proterra, a California-based company with an office and manufacturing facility in Greenville, S.C., brought one of its electric buses to Augusta on Aug. 31 for a three-day visit.
“This bus here is our 35-foot, full battery electric vehicle,” said Ryan Saunders, program manager of business development for Proterra. “It’s a long range, battery electric bus.”
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He said the vehicle will cover between 140 to about 200 miles on a single charge. It can fully re-charge in 3.5 hours.
“What we’re doing here is we’re testing with Augusta Transit, testing various routes making sure it will meet their operational requirements, their turn requirements and to get their operators more familiar with the vehicle,” Saunders said.
Oliver Page, deputy director of Augusta Transit, said the drivers do like to drive the electric buses.
“The way this bus works, it slows down when you take your foot off the accelerator. You can drive this bus without touching the brake,” he explained. “The more experienced you get, the less you actually use your brake.”
Both men agreed electric buses are more expensive, with prices ranging from $800,000 to $1 million compared to the $450,000 to $500,000 for a diesel bus.
Saunders said “One of the big benefits with electric buses is they’re cheaper to maintain. There’s about a third less moving parts in the vehicle and a lot of the parts are cheaper to replace.”
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He said the break-even point is reached within about five years. At that point, the lower maintenance costs offset the higher purchase price.
This is the third of a scheduled four electric bus companies that will visit Augusta as the city puts together an application for a grant program next year. The earlier companies were New Flyer, based in Canada. and Build Your Dreams/BYD of California.
The buses were used on several different Augusta Transit routes to also give riders the chance to voice opinions.
“The passengers do like it. It’s clean; it’s modern; it’s attractive to look at,” Page said. “They want more buses and better reliability.”
Page said the fourth company will visit in September or October.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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