Liberal Texas city Austin parks its 46 new e-buses due to inadequate charging infrastructure

Austin, Texas, planned to transition all its city buses to electric, but the ambitious climate-friendly goal has come to a screeching halt. 

The Austin Monitor reports that 46 new electric buses – costing around $1 million each – will be in storage for at least a year due to lack of charging infrastructure to keep them running all day. The buses were manufactured by now-bankrupt Proterra, which has left city transit districts across the country with fleets of inoperable buses. 

Proterra was acquired by Phoenix Motor Inc., which the Monitor reports is struggling to service warranties and repair technical issues. 

The city’s transit board appropriated $255 million to buy 197 electric buses, some of which were manufactured by Minnesota-based New Flyer of America. In July, KUT News reported that Austin’s transit officials were beginning to realize that their ambitious e-bus plan was crumbling. 

While diesel-powered buses could run for nearly 24 hours without refueling, an electric bus needed to recharge every 8 to 10 hours, which was creating logistical issues. Drivers doing long routes often had to stop in the middle of the route to go charge, according to KUT, and the city’s hot climates and hills were making it worse. 

The buses also experienced breakdowns at more than twice the rate of diesel buses. In 2022, half the buses were broken down, on average, and the figure improved only slightly last year.