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$5 million loss for Asheville as flawed electric buses sit idle
WLOS - News 13 ^ | January 18th 2024 | Kimberly King

Posted on 01/21/2024 10:18:27 AM PST by george76

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The city of Asheville's purchase of five electric buses in 2018 has turned into a multi-million-dollar loss. The buses have been broken or unable to run because of software and/or mechanical issues, making them an expensive and disappointing purchase, according to city maintenance and transportation staff.

...

Currently, three of the five buses are idled, with one that has had a broken double door since July.

“We haven’t been able to get new doors,” Asheville's interim transportation director Jessica Morriss said. “There's no third party that makes a door. We'd have to get custom-made doors.”

Each of the buses cost the city $616,796-plus. Morriss said additional costs included more than $200,000 for the infrastructure for each charger, $118,000 annually for the contract to lease batteries for the buses and $45,481 for annual electric charges.

“I think if you added that altogether, I think, probably $900,000 to $1 million is what each one cost. And, since then, we've had to invest additional money into maintaining them and fixing them," Morriss said.

Morriss said maintenance costs have been an additional $251,000, which includes replacing the traction drive controls, or electric motors, for all of the buses.

...

Maintenance director John McDaniel said several of the buses also had to have their power inverters replaced at $14,000 each.

“The last couple of years have been particularly difficult,” Morriss said. “We don’t see an end in sight. Proterra, the manufacturer, has since filed for bankruptcy.”

She said it’s impossible to get parts for the idled buses.

“Since June 2023, we have had numerous issues with vehicles out of service for weeks and months," Morriss said.

...

Of the two buses that are running, the other big issue is the limited distance they can go, which in winter is about 78 miles. McDaniel said that’s about three trips to the airport. Then, the bus has to come back and charge at the garage on West Haywood Street for hours, he said.

Another issue is the buses get cold overnight and it eats into a large part of the charge to heat them before they leave the garage.

...

Morris said the downed electric buses have also put a strain on the city's operating fleet of 32 buses. She said those buses -- a combination of biodiesel and hybrids -- are being run more because the electric buses have been down so often.

“There's some lessons here for sure. We're pressing pause on investing in any electric technology until we can assure the products we get are going to be able to work," Morris said.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: asheville; automotive; bankruptcy; buses; electric; electricbuses; electricvehicle; electricvehicles; ev; evs; fraud; junk; northcarolina; proterra; scammed
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To: george76

“There’s some lessons here for sure.”

At a cost of some $5 million for those ‘lessons’, that’s almost competitive with the UNC-system education racket.


41 posted on 01/21/2024 11:23:58 AM PST by Stosh
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To: george76

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha....
Oh, wait a minute. These a-holes are billing us for their garbage!


42 posted on 01/21/2024 11:24:04 AM PST by gathersnomoss (Clown World)
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To: george76

Fortunately, they were able to dump their half-wit female City Manager off on Johnson City TN...just over the mountain...progressives are parasites.


43 posted on 01/21/2024 11:26:18 AM PST by who knows what evil? (Hospitals are the most dangerous place on Earth! Dr. David Williams)
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To: george76

‘Just go green, Jack!’


44 posted on 01/21/2024 11:27:14 AM PST by who knows what evil? (Hospitals are the most dangerous place on Earth! Dr. David Williams)
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To: ken in texas

—”It actually says the name of the mfg and that the company went bankrupt”

A performance bond and or payment retainage would not be unusual.

A portion of the payment is withheld until completion of the warranty.

That said, a small campaign donation to the right people, and that requirement can be left out of the contract.


45 posted on 01/21/2024 11:38:47 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT ( "The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: george76

3 parts busses and all they can say is....”we can’t find a door”.


46 posted on 01/21/2024 11:39:03 AM PST by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It ( )
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To: george76

“Currently, three of the five buses are idled, with one that has had a broken double door since July.”

Note to maintenance: Take a working door from the broken down bus and put it on the bus that needs a door. (assuming these five buses are from the same order)


47 posted on 01/21/2024 11:39:32 AM PST by Zack Attack (✔)
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To: nesnah

Are soon parted.


48 posted on 01/21/2024 11:50:43 AM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: sasquatch
Not a fan of EV’s but a door could easily be replaced with a chain and hook. $15?

That, or just swap the busted door onto one of the other dead buses that has a working door. Probably more complicated than the motor pool mechanic can handle, though.

49 posted on 01/21/2024 12:02:35 PM PST by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: Jeff Chandler
Maybe they should replace them with trains.

Yeah, maybe, because politicians love overspending and pulling in graft.

If they want electric buses, I have a solution. Electric trolley buses with overhead electric wires. I've ridden them from back in the 1950's, see them in other cities and countries, and they work. Flawlessly.

It cracks me up to see new electric trolley buses adorned with paint & wrap advertising they are "New Zero-Energy!" and the future, when similar buses have been around for a century. Parts readily available anywhere in the world, and cheap. Our older trolley buses even have battery power to move them when the overhead wires are not connected to the bus, enabling them to move short distances.

They don't need EV buses. Wasteful politicians!

50 posted on 01/21/2024 12:06:29 PM PST by roadcat
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To: Army Air Corps

I’d be surprised if our grifter secretary of energy, Jennifer Granholm, didn’t make a bundle of $ on Proterra.


51 posted on 01/21/2024 12:28:39 PM PST by Jacquerie (ArticleVBlog.com)
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To: george76

Too bad for assville.


52 posted on 01/21/2024 12:30:08 PM PST by Mouton (150MTs in the right location will not solve our problems now.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

“Proterra,...”
Their first mistake, NOT!


53 posted on 01/21/2024 1:02:35 PM PST by A strike (Words can have gender, humans cannot.)
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To: george76

i wonder how much it costs to insure them...


54 posted on 01/21/2024 1:07:15 PM PST by stylin19a (Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?)
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To: cgbg
"Ashville polticians who voted for the garbage should be required to pull rickshaws at the minimum wage rate until the $3M in value is delivered to residents."

What an excellent idea!

Best suggestion of the day!

55 posted on 01/21/2024 1:16:24 PM PST by CapnJack ( )
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To: MinorityRepublican
Why not Tesla? Or Mercedes?
Does Tesla and/or Mercedes manufacture EV buses for city transportation?
56 posted on 01/21/2024 1:20:32 PM PST by citizen (Put all LBQTwhatever programming on a new subscription service: PERV-TThose look good)
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Seems I read BYD electric car manufacturer is or has opened a Electric Bus developing facility in Kalifornia. Being a Chicomm company and Warren Buffet backed, I’m sure they are to big to fail with bottomless commie funds.


57 posted on 01/21/2024 1:28:40 PM PST by DAC21
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To: george76

Put them on cement pads in the park and advertise them as a new art form ... progressive elites will be in awe.


58 posted on 01/21/2024 1:32:36 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (We used to be a Republic, we are now a Fascist Klepto-Thugocracy.)
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To: george76

ASHEVILLE, N.C.

Chicken coops for sale cheap


59 posted on 01/21/2024 1:41:13 PM PST by Vaduz
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To: tired&retired
Eight of Jackson Hole's EV (proterra) busses are not working

Sounds like they made a low quality product. No supply base, custom builds, and dependent on FedGov incentives.

60 posted on 01/21/2024 1:44:19 PM PST by HonkyTonkMan ( )
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