Sun Tran officials are testing electric buses this week.
“This is another alternative we’re looking at,” said Kate Riley, general manager of Sun Tran.
Sun Tran has two 40-foot electric buses on loan from BYD, a Chinese company with American headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Los Angeles.
Sun Tran wants to look at environmentally friendly ways to diversify its fleet, Riley said.
The transit service currently has 247 full-size buses in its fleet. By 2018, Sun Tran plans to have 21 biodiesel buses with compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles.
Longer term, Sun Tran officials would like to diversify its fleet of vehicles, possibly with electric buses.
No plans have been made, however, to buy electric buses. “At this point we’re evaluating,” Riley said.
In addition to driving the electric buses around the Sun Tran yard, the transit service plans to test the buses on some of its express routes this week.
BYD officials said the buses cost about $800,000 each.
The buses use direct-drive electric motors mounted behind the two rear wheels. About 60 battery modules disbursed throughout the buses power the vehicles.
A fully charged bus has a range of about 155 miles. Their batteries can be completely recharged in four hours.
BYD regional sales manager Justin Scalzi said the Antelope Valley Transit Authority in California has two of the electric buses in operation, and Stanford University has 13, with plans to purchase more.
Los Angeles Metro Transit, the city of Long Beach, California, and the city of Denver also have plans to purchase the electric vehicles, Scalzi said.
The buses also have an alternative use.
“It could be used as a mobile generator,” Scalzi said, saying the buses are capable of bringing power to natural disaster areas.
