San José International Airport Buys 10 All-Electric Catalyst E2 Transit Buses From Proterra

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The US-based electric bus manufacturer Proterra has received an order for 10 all-electric Catalyst E2 transit buses and associated charging infrastructure, to be used at the Norman Y Mineta San José International Airport in California.

The decision by the San José City Council to purchase the plug-in electric Proterra buses was due to the company’s “sustainability, performance, and operational cost-savings excellence.”

Notably, this deployment will represent the first for Proterra’s buses at an airport in the San Francisco Bay Area once completed — which is, also of now, expected to occur in late 2018. The buses will be designed and built at Proterra’s Los Angeles County manufacturing plant.

“The addition of this all-electric bus fleet reflects SJC’s continued commitment to delivering a world-class passenger experience and advancing our community’s collective sustainability goals,” commented San José Mayor Sam Liccardo. “These electric buses can help us significantly reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and represent a step towards our aspiration that an electric engine power every shuttle and bus on San Jose’s streets.”

The press release provides more: “With 12 million passengers annually, SJC currently provides on-site shuttle buses to transport passengers and luggage among the airport’s short- and long-term parking lots, consolidated rental car garage, and terminals, with a fleet of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. Funded in part by a $3.8 million zero-emissions vehicle grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, the new Proterra battery-electric buses will replace these older CNG buses, resulting in the elimination 3.1 million pounds of greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions over the lifetime of these vehicles.”

Accompanying the emissions reduction benefits, the new all-electric buses will also allow the airport to substantially lower bus fleet operating costs — with the new buses expected to save the airport some $4 million over their 12-year lifetimes, thanks to reduced electricity/fuel costs and reduced maintenance costs.

This news follows on the San José International Airport’s earlier projects to install a 1 megawatt (MW) 3.4-acre solar PV system to power the rental car garage; roll out airside electric service vehicles; and introduce recycling and composting programs.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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