"When a door broke loose on a new electric bus in Des Moines, Iowa, and nearly fell off, it was one in a long list of problems for the local transit agency. The city began using its fleet of seven electric buses, made by the startup Proterra, in 2021. The vehicles soon showed defects in the suspensions, weatherproofing, and wheelchair ramps. After only 18 months of use-and unsuccessful attempts to get the manufacturer to fix the problems-the agency had to pull them off the road."
"In Philadelphia, Proterra buses were sidelined in 2020 after the heavy batteries started to crack the vehicle chassis. (This summer, one of those vehicles started a fire while it was in storage, destroying 16 other buses.) In Austin, 46 new Proterra buses were taken out of service last year as the agency tried to sort out glitches. In Seattle, the buses had charging issues."
A door nearly detached from a new Proterra electric bus in Des Moines after only months of service. The city's seven-bus fleet showed suspension, weatherproofing, and wheelchair-ramp defects and was removed after 18 months when manufacturer repairs failed. Similar failures occurred nationwide: battery-induced chassis cracking in Philadelphia, a storage fire destroying multiple buses, large fleets sidelined in Austin, charging and performance problems in Seattle and Duluth, and many idle vehicles in Miami. Parts shortages and Proterra's late-2023 bankruptcy left buses stranded. Phoenix's takeover of the bus business complicated fixes, and many buses were auctioned for parts at deep losses.
Read at Fast Company
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