TTC Electric BusThe City of Toronto has the largest transit system in Canada that includes 2200 buses and they are now testing 10 fully electric units from each of  New Flyer (Canada), BYD (China), and Proterra (US)

Here are the numbers:

  • 25% more reliable
  • 30% few parts
    • less items to inventory and manage saves money
  • 25% lower maintenance costs
  • 60% quieter which is a big deal for drivers and communities
  • 75% reduction in energy costs
    • $32,000 /bus /year energy savings
    • $70 million dollar fuel saving per year if the entire fleet was electric
  • 33% more costly to purchase initially
    • prices have dropped 40% in the last 5 years
    • conventional diesel bus costs CDN $700K
    • fully electric buses cost CDN$900K to $1.3M
    • by the time the TTC scales out, the expected the initial purchase price will likely be at parity or better
  • 40% battery range reduction during the cold winter months
    • compensated for with diesel fire heaters to avoid that problem
  • 5% of battery range reduction due to air conditioning in hot summer months

In addition to those numbers it is important to note that electric city buses can be used as an emergency power source for important buildings like city hall, fire departments, command centers, retirement homes, schools…

Bem Case, Head of Vehicle Programs for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) explains the new pilot project with 60 all electric buses:


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