If we follow the media too closely, we might miss out on the real news. This appears to be equally true in the world of transport, where almost all reviews seem to be about supercars. Economic Times of India tipped us off about a trend we scarcely noticed. Humble electric bus transport is leading the drive to get gasoline off the world’s roads.
Silent Acceleration of Electric Bus Transport
There a number of reasons why electric bus transport is surging ahead. Bus companies have central depots, where teams of technicians service the batteries and provide minimal maintenance. The whisperingly silent vehicles must make good commercial sense too, because Bloomberg believes half the global fleet will be entirely battery powered by 2032. Compared to that, electrics cars, scooters and commercial trucks are lagging.
The drive to electric buses originally began in China, we understand. However, by 2022 more bus orders started streaming in from other regions. Some of this had to do with the nature of the product. Electrifying one vehicle can cause a chain reaction that eventually shuts down entire fossil fuel bus fleets.
Striking examples include the City of Berlin, which is in the process of replacing 1,600 diesel buses with 1,700 electric replacements by 2030. While in the United States, New York City will have an 8,400-strong electric bus fleet by 2040. U.S. school districts are also making steady progress with replacing all 5,000 gasoline buses.
This Is More Just Lip Service to Global Warming
These trends underlie a far deeper reality. The real motivation, it seems, is the happy fact that all-battery public electric bus transport chimes well with bus routes. The vehicles can chug along at moderate speeds without calling on their batteries to give their all. They can even charge up ever so slightly, while the passengers come and go at stops.
More Information
Battery Decade and the Future Ahead
Early Electric Vehicle History – The Pioneers
