BUS ELECTRIFICATION FEBRUARY 2017 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 19 range — compared to the summer. It’s very hard to buy buses that would maybe give you 200 kilometers (124 miles) in the summer and maybe 100 (62 miles) in the winter. I don’t know how you can plan your service route with that kind of variable.” Chamberland said that the fl ux of the buses opening their doors and letting cold air in makes it even harder. “When you’re talking about an electric bus, you have to look into more details,” he explained. Before STM settled on using Nova Bus for their electric fl eet they ran a trial with BYD. “In the United States, anything south of New York and Minnesota, you can get away with electric heating,” explained Austin. “We did trials up in Montreal for a full winter. In all those launches we had a supplemental heater on board to help heat. We can certainly do it and draw all electric, but we are telling you it’s going to be a 20 to 30 percent range hit to electrify in a super frigid.” In the end, winter temperatures was one of the reason that Montreal decided to go with the in-route charging, as well as including on-board heaters. Riley said that GreenPower has seen similar results in cold weather causing the battery to be drained the fastest. “Our one double-decker, is running in the Greater Victoria Harbor Authority area. Th at is the coldest place that we have a bus operating. We don’t see more than a 10 to 15 percent hit with the heater running all the time. But I think that once we start deploying in areas like Montreal or Alberta, where we get really cold weather for long periods of time, then I think that we have to revisit in-route charging to expand our ranges.” Different Agencies, Different Needs Th ere are benefi ts and cons to both charging methods. In the end there isn’t one method that is an overall ideal charging method for all agencies that are looking to turn toward electric. In-route charging can provide extended reach for agencies that have longer routes with more frequent service. Overnight charging can be more economical for smaller agencies, both through lower electricity costs as well as removing the cost of installing in-route charging stops. For more information, visit www.MassTransitmag.com/10065741 By the Numbers CA$9.1 million grants from government 10 km length of line number 36, STM’s chosen test route
MassTransit_February_2017
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