4 ms·
Yes, that's a great point. Even if you ignore the usual idle time between the morning and afternoon runs, I have to imagine a range of 150-200 miles would cover
by xxpor 5y ago
Yes, that's a great point. Even if you ignore the usual idle time between the morning and afternoon runs, I have to imagine a range of 150-200 miles would cover ~95% of use cases. The bus problem therefore should be much easier than the long haul truck problem. Plus, there's no trailer so you could run the battery pack the entire length of the bus.
- erosenbe0 5y agoOne problem is that 'diesel outages' on school nights are extremely rare or nonexistent. Maybe deliveries are late or pumps break but it seems like a solved problem. Electric trains are also a solved problem and are hardened from many power outages too. Whereas some work needs to be done to harden the infrastructure at the school district level to avoid electric bus outages.
- elihu 5y agoIf there's a major power outage, the school probably won't be in session either. Though getting the students home might be a problem if power goes out in the middle of a school day and the buses haven't charged enough to get the students home. (If they have enough reserve capacity it's probably not an issue.)
- xxpor 5y agoWorst case, you could have some diesel generators at the bus depot.
- Gwypaas 5y agoThey work really well for city buses also, although they need some charging at the ends. Still have a sweet spot in regards to range though even though the latest generation allows for high capacity buses. They needed to rework a bunch of lines to fit in the envelope. https://www.electricitygoteborg.se/en/news/improved-urban-environment-one-year-after-launch-145-electric-buses https://www.electricitygoteborg.se/en/news/improved-urban-en... Also helps that Volvo is headquartered in Goteborg, so always eager to try new things. The first "prototype" style BEV bus line opened early 2015.