Range Anxiety
The Regional Transportation Agency (RTA) of Central Maryland has at least one BYD 100% Electric bus in its fleet. I happened to spot one in Columbia, MD. Unfortunately, it was being hooked up to a tow truck.
According to the tow truck driver, the bus ran out of charge. How does that happen? Wouldn’t they plan it so that a bus has enough range to complete its route before it leaves the depot? Wouldn’t the bus driver notice that the battery gauge was getting low?
It’s great to have electric buses in Maryland, but it’s not a great look to have one being towed due to running out of juice on the road.
Maryland Electric Bus Transition
The Maryland General Assembly is considering several bills in the 2020 session that would bring more electric buses to the state. Two of those bills had hearings this week. HB 432 and SB 423 would direct the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to transition its fleet to electric buses.
Follow the progress of these and other EV related bills on the PlugInSites 2020 EV Legislation Tracker.
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