Gardena Municipal Bus Lines (GTrans) has tapped Complete Coach Works (CCW) to convert more of its hybrid-electric buses to fully electric buses using CCW’s Zero Emission Propulsion System (ZEPS), an all-electric battery-powered engine.
After CCW delivered the first ZEPS bus to the Gardena, Calif.-based transportation provider in late September, Gardena received a California Energy Commission grant to upgrade four more of its hybrid buses to electric. Gardena selected CCW to convert the buses to ZEPS models in a project expected to begin early next year, says Kevin O’Brien, project manager for CCW.
Switching to the ZEPS drive system entails dismantling the bus down to the chassis then installing all new mechanical parts, as well as new flooring, seating, power steering, HVAC and low rolling resistance tires. CCW says the ZEPS engines have a range of about 130 miles and require about five hours to recharge the batteries.
Anthony Cohen, facility and maintenance manager for GTrans, calls the new bus “great” and says that GTrans is “evaluating if the fleet should go all electric.”
