9/12/17

Motive Places More Battery School Buses


Starcraft eQuest XL Bodies on Ford F-59 Chassis, FZSoNick Batteries, Placed via Creative Bus Sales with Partial Funding by CEC & SCAQMD

More all-battery school buses with Motiv Power Systems drives are being placed in California, as two vehicles for the Colton Joint Unified School District east of Los Angeles join 13 Motiv-drive school buses for Sacramento and four already in service in the San Joaquin Valley.

The two new Starcraft eQuest XL-bodied buses for Colton Joint USD bring Motiv’s all-battery school bus total in California to nearly 20.

The latest pair, sold via Creative Bus Sales, are Type C buses with Starcraft eQuest XL bodies on Ford F-59chassis. They are powered by sodium nickel batteries from Switzerland’s FZSoNick (aka Fiamm).

The buses provide a maximum capacity of 48 passengers and a range of up to 85 miles on a single charge, Motiv says. They are available with battery packs with capacity up to 127 kilowatt-hours, according to a Creative Bus Sales spec sheet, which indicates 60 miles of single-charge range with an 85-kilowatt-hour pack.

Six-Year RoI

Operators can expect an 85% reduction in fuel/operating costs and a 66% reduction in maintenance costs, Motiv says, yielding return on investment in about six years.

“The Motiv electric powertrain is giving Creative’s eQuest XL school bus unprecedented performance previously uncharacteristic of electric buses,” Joe Angeli of Creative Bus Sales says in today’s Motiv announcement.

Power and Acceleration

“The hill-climbing power and acceleration provided by the electric powertrain gives these buses a driving experience consistent with standard buses creating a safer driving environment for the buses and the children they transport,” he said.

The two new buses have flexible seating, support wheelchair access, and can be configured to accommodate as many as eight wheelchairs for routes with special needs children.

Entering Service Soon

They are to be enter service with Colton Joint USD “within the next few weeks,” Motiv says, noting that they have been funded in part by the California Energy Commission and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Erick Richardson is director of transportation at Colton Joint USD. Raynona Orona is bus operations supervisor.

Source: http://www.fleetsandfuels.com/fuels/evs/2017/09/motiv-places-more-battery-school-buses/


No comments: