Good news about electric buses

January 2 2019

Electric buses push forward worldwide.

More than 385,000 fully electric buses are in use around the world, CityLab reported earlier this year. China is the clear leader in the electric bus game, with 99 percent of the world’s battery-powered buses, according to a 2018 report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. But the trend is beginning to take off worldwide.

In December 2018, California regulators voted to require the state’s bus fleet to completely phase out fossil fuels by 2040. While the transition period will likely include other lower-emissions options like natural gas and hydrogen fuel cell  buses, the decision paves the way for broader deployment of  all-electric alternatives. Los Angeles County and San Francisco, for  example, have both committed to shift their entire bus fleets to  all-electric before 2035, GreenTech Media reported.

Experts  expect others to follow suit. “We would not be surprised to see other  states with environmentally-minded regulators follow California’s lead  over time, just as 13 other states enforce California-set fuel economy  standards for light-duty vehicles,” Pavel Molchanov, senior VP and  equity research analyst for Raymond James & Associates, told Seeking Alpha.

Meanwhile,  the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will deploy 18 electric  buses at its three airports over the next six months, Mass Transit Magazine reported last week. Chicago’s Transit Board is also expanding its electric fleet with 20 new buses, and New York City is in the midst of a three-year electric bus pilot. Across the pond, Chinese electric bus manufacturer BYD recently completed its first battery-powered buses made in France.  The new buses will serve Beauvais-Tillé airport, about 65 miles outside  Paris, as Western European governments also begin to embrace electric  bus transport.

From Triple Pundit Blog article by Mary Mazzoni, dated 12/31/18.