Austin, Texas, has encountered some rough patches while converting its public bus fleet to all electric.
The city was one of the earliest adopters of battery-powered buses, but the Austin transit agency’s efforts have been slowed by unreliable buses followed up by the bus supplier filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Austin Monitor reported that the city committed to buying almost 200 electric buses in 2020, committing more than a quarter-billion dollars for the vehicles, but the process has hardly been smooth.
Over the summer, one of the electric bus companies providing buses closed up. The company delivered six buses and has 17 built and waiting to be delivered but lacks available chargers to power them.
The buses that were delivered, according to the article, are unreliable, breaking down well before projected mechanical failures, especially when compared to diesel buses.
Austin has a second supplier providing buses to the city, but has only delivered seven of 52 planned buses, but the rest are scheduled to be delivered next year.
Dave Lubach is executive editor of the facility market.
