Proterra, a provider of all-electric buses, has announced that the company's 40-foot Catalyst XR bus drove 258 miles on a single charge under test conditions at Michelin's Laurens Proving Grounds. The company says the Catalyst's range demonstration marks a significant step toward Proterra's goal of providing a high-performance bus that can serve any typical transit route in the U.S.
The Catalyst XR configuration included eight battery packs, with a total energy capacity of 257 kWh. Based on these test results, Proterra says it predicts its 10-pack XR configuration (321 kWh) will achieve 300 miles on a single charge. Citing available General Transit Feed Specification data, the manufacturer says typical urban and rural bus routes in the U.S. run less than 200 miles a day, bringing most routes within reach of Proterra's current technology.
‘The purpose-driven Catalyst design affords the best efficiency rating ever for a 40-foot transit bus, at 22 MPG equivalent,’ claims John Sleconich, chief engineer at Proterra. ‘Proterra buses are the only mass transit vehicle built from the ground up as an electric vehicle. With a unique aerodynamic body made from carbon fiber and advanced composite materials, we are able to reduce mass for maximum efficiency.’
Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra, adds, ‘While diesel buses pollute our communities and are increasingly more costly to own and operate, Proterra is pushing the bounds of EV technology and steadily driving down costs. Achieving this range is validation for our technology and gives us the confidence that Proterra is capable of what we initially set out to accomplish – replacing every fossil fuel bus in the United States with a fully electric one.”
