In spite of massive government funding green energy projects continue to fail spectacularly

[mark francis]

Democrats have big stupid green energy plans that cannot float without massive government funding and that collapse when hit with realities that cannot be legislated away. The US government has given tens of millions of dollars to help create and support electric vehicle manufacturing and big cities have received tens of millions of dollars from the federal government to buy electric buses, but there are serious problems with the end results of those expensive government experiences. They do not work.

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold (msn.com) 12-26-23

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold

Virtue-signaling liberalism is fighting another losing battle with reality.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota-focused news outlet MinnPost reported that several of the state's largest cities have encountered significant obstacles in their quest to achieve planet-friendly public transit.

Frigid temperatures and a myriad of other problems have plagued Duluth and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul during their transition to zero-emission buses.

In subzero conditions -- a staple of Minnesota winters -- electric buses operate at only a fraction of their supposed 150-mile capacity.

Drew Kerr, spokesman for Twin Cities Metro Transit, explained that charged buses travel far shorter distances than manufacturers advertised.

“Using garage chargers alone, electric buses can remain in service for 70 to 75 miles before needing to return to the garage; with on-route chargers, electric buses were scheduled to be in service for up to 90 miles before returning to the garage,” Kerr said.

Duluth spokesman Dave Clark noted that the city has experienced significant problems with charging stations.

“They would fail. They would not perform. They would experience malfunctions, glitches. They were extremely problematic right out of the gate,” Clark said.

 

[Phoenix68]

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It's now cheaper to build a new wind farm than to keep a coal plant running
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Without Solar Power, This Texas Heat Wave Would Burn Much Worse
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[Phoenix68]

In spite of massive government funding green energy projects continue to fail spectacularly​

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold (msn.com) 12-26-23

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"The WESTERN JOURNAL!!!!"
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[mark francis]

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View attachment 9832
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"The WESTERN JOURNAL!!!!"
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The MinnPost, another source of facts leftists do not want to accept.

Road to zero-emission buses proves challenging for Minnesota transit agencies - MinnPost

Vendor issues, performance in subzero temperatures and charging station maintenance are among the challenges transit agencies face as they try to decarbonize their fleets.

www.minnpost.com

Nonprofit, independent journalism. Supported by readers.​

Road to zero-emission buses proves challenging for Minnesota transit agencies​

Vendor issues, performance in subzero temperatures and charging station maintenance are among the challenges transit agencies face as they try to decarbonize their fleets.
By H. Jiahong Pan

In 2017, Metro Transit received a $1.7 million federal grant to buy eight battery-electric accordion buses for use on the C Line, a rapid bus line that runs from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center.
Photo by H. Jiahong Pan
Dec. 20, 2023

In 2021, the Federal Transit Administration awarded a grant to Metro Transit to purchase zero-emission buses from a company that was ambitiously trying to decarbonize heavy-duty transportation vehicles across multiple sectors.
The company, Proterra, aimed to deliver those buses powered by Proterra batteries to Metro Transit this year. But earlier this year, the agency terminated negotiations with Proterra. Proterra, which also makes chargers for the vehicles they power, subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

Vendor issues are among one of the challenges Metro Transit, as well as other agencies statewide, face as they try to decarbonize their transit fleets. They’ve also encountered problems with operating them in subzero environments, as well as charging them. Though it appears some agencies remain committed to battery-electric vehicles, they are also considering using vehicles powered by other fuel sources.

The road to zero emissions has not been smooth​

Duluth and the Twin Cities have been pioneers in the zero-emission bus transition. In 2015, Duluth received a $6.3 million federal grant for six, ultimately seven, battery-electric buses from Proterra. The buses, delivered in 2018, were the first of their kind to operate in Minnesota.

Metro Transit followed in 2017 when it received a $1.7 million federal grant to buy eight battery-electric accordion buses from Winnipeg-based New Flyer, as well as associated charging equipment, for use on the C Line, a rapid bus line that runs from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center on Penn Avenue and Olson Memorial Highway. These buses were the first battery-electric accordion buses to operate in the Upper Midwest.

Both the Twin Cities and Duluth have had problems with their battery-electric buses. For one, they can’t go as far as their builders advertised, in part because of the cold weather. Metro Transit’s accordion electric buses were touted to go 150 miles on a single charge. “Using garage chargers alone, electric buses can remain in service for 70 to 75 miles before needing to return to the garage; with on-route chargers, electric buses were scheduled to be in service for up to 90 miles before returning to the garage,” Metro Transit spokesperson Drew Kerr said.

Metro Transit’s battery-electric buses are also less reliable than their diesel-fueled counterparts. A September 2023 presentation to the Met Council’s Transportation Committee showed the battery-electric buses broke down twice as often. The buses were also unable to meet 20% of their scheduled operating miles because they needed battery replacements, which were performed under warranty amid supply chain issues. However, their reliability is better than what it was in 2021, when they were out of service for most of the year because the agency could not charge them at their garage.

Though the agency has since resolved the charging issues at their garage, they continued to have problems with their on-route chargers installed at Brooklyn Center Transit Center. With their Brooklyn Center charger experiencing over 20 failures so far this year, the agency took them out of service in June.

Duluth also had “every possible issue” with the chargers for the city’s battery-electric buses, which are proprietary. “They would fail, they would not perform, they would experience malfunctions, glitches. They were extremely problematic right out of the gate,” spokesperson Dave Clark said. Though they were able to replace the chargers, Proterra has yet to reimburse the agency for doing so under warranty terms. As a result, the agency is seeking $1.8 million from Proterra, which includes the amount Duluth paid to replace the faulty chargers as well as to anticipate increases in maintenance costs.

Duluth also had problems with its battery-electric bus fleet. Between April 2019 and February 2020, the fleet averaged 7,717 miles between breakdowns, four times as often compared to their diesel counterparts. (They do not have more current numbers because they do not ordinarily track the distance between breakdowns specifically for their battery-electric bus fleet.) The buses struggled to make it up the city’s storied steep hills and to keep riders warm in the winter. Proterra’s technicians ultimately installed diesel-fired heaters and retooled their buses, incorporating those changes in their most recent model, the ZX5.

One of those changes includes increased battery capacity, up to 738 kilowatt-hours, so they can handle steep hills and operate longer in subzero temperatures. Metro Transit planned to get eight ZX5 coaches from Proterra when the FTA awarded them a grant in 2021.

But that is no longer in the cards, says Metro Transit, and it’s not because they’ve gone bankrupt. “We were trying to ensure that the contractual agreement that we had in place [with Proterra] addressed some of the early issues that we experienced,” Metro Transit Chief Operating Officer Brian Funk said. “We just simply were not able to come to terms.”

What’s next?

In August, the Federal Transit Administration awarded Metro Transit a $17.5 million grant to buy 12 battery-electric buses from Livermore, California-based Gillig. It’s unclear when the buses will arrive because the agency and Gillig have not yet agreed to a contract. Meanwhile, the agency is seeking federal approval to use the money originally earmarked to purchase battery-electric buses from Proterra, perhaps to purchase more battery-electric buses from another manufacturer. ...

 

[Boris Norris]

Democrats have big stupid green energy plans that cannot float without massive government funding and that collapse when hit with realities that cannot be legislated away. The US government has given tens of millions of dollars to help create and support electric vehicle manufacturing and big cities have received tens of millions of dollars from the federal government to buy electric buses, but there are serious problems with the end results of those expensive government experiences. They do not work.

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold (msn.com) 12-26-23

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold

Virtue-signaling liberalism is fighting another losing battle with reality.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota-focused news outlet MinnPost reported that several of the state's largest cities have encountered significant obstacles in their quest to achieve planet-friendly public transit.

Frigid temperatures and a myriad of other problems have plagued Duluth and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul during their transition to zero-emission buses.

In subzero conditions -- a staple of Minnesota winters -- electric buses operate at only a fraction of their supposed 150-mile capacity.

Drew Kerr, spokesman for Twin Cities Metro Transit, explained that charged buses travel far shorter distances than manufacturers advertised.

“Using garage chargers alone, electric buses can remain in service for 70 to 75 miles before needing to return to the garage; with on-route chargers, electric buses were scheduled to be in service for up to 90 miles before returning to the garage,” Kerr said.

Duluth spokesman Dave Clark noted that the city has experienced significant problems with charging stations.

“They would fail. They would not perform. They would experience malfunctions, glitches. They were extremely problematic right out of the gate,” Clark said.

Do you mean like the govt subsidising oil drilling companies? Remember them? You never objected to that.
You wouldn't know you silly old crotch cannibal.

 

[Phoenix68]

The MinnPost, another source of facts leftists do not want to accept.

Road to zero-emission buses proves challenging for Minnesota transit agencies - MinnPost

Vendor issues, performance in subzero temperatures and charging station maintenance are among the challenges transit agencies face as they try to decarbonize their fleets.

www.minnpost.com

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Everything's temporary.....
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"Among reasons cited for the bankruptcy were supply chain disruption, leading to penalties for not meeting supplier contract commitments and for subsequent delayed deliveries, as well as the nature of the business of producing highly customized products for each transit agency, and over a period of 12 to 18 months, during which inflation cut into margins.

In mid-November 2023, in the first of two bankruptcy proceedings, Volvo Group placed a winning $210 million bid for Proterra's business unit, which builds batteries and drivetrains for other heavy-duty vehicle builders. In the second auction, the transit bus operating company went to Phoenix Motorcars, and the Proterra Energy charging business to CSI."

.​

 

[mark francis]

Do you mean like the govt subsidising oil drilling companies? Remember them? You never objected to that.
You wouldn't know you silly old crotch cannibal.

I don't think the US government has been giving companies free grant money to drill like they give EV companies grant money to build EVs or cities free grant money to replace diesel buses with electric buses.

 

[Boris Norris]

I don't think the US government has been giving companies free grant money to drill like they give EV companies grant money to build EVs or cities free grant money to replace diesel buses with electric buses.

The first three words sums up everything about you.

You don't think at all.

 

[the annoying thing]

Democrats have big stupid green energy plans that cannot float without massive government funding and that collapse when hit with realities that cannot be legislated away. The US government has given tens of millions of dollars to help create and support electric vehicle manufacturing and big cities have received tens of millions of dollars from the federal government to buy electric buses, but there are serious problems with the end results of those expensive government experiences. They do not work.

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold (msn.com) 12-26-23

Minnesota Cities Went All-In for Electric Transit, But the Buses Couldn’t Handle the Cold

Virtue-signaling liberalism is fighting another losing battle with reality.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota-focused news outlet MinnPost reported that several of the state's largest cities have encountered significant obstacles in their quest to achieve planet-friendly public transit.

Frigid temperatures and a myriad of other problems have plagued Duluth and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul during their transition to zero-emission buses.

In subzero conditions -- a staple of Minnesota winters -- electric buses operate at only a fraction of their supposed 150-mile capacity.

Drew Kerr, spokesman for Twin Cities Metro Transit, explained that charged buses travel far shorter distances than manufacturers advertised.

“Using garage chargers alone, electric buses can remain in service for 70 to 75 miles before needing to return to the garage; with on-route chargers, electric buses were scheduled to be in service for up to 90 miles before returning to the garage,” Kerr said.

Duluth spokesman Dave Clark noted that the city has experienced significant problems with charging stations.

“They would fail. They would not perform. They would experience malfunctions, glitches. They were extremely problematic right out of the gate,” Clark said.

A lot of the money the feds invested during o bung hole days was a waste. Company's taking millions upon millions then closing filing bankruptcy or not doing what they said they could. It was a massive failure.
Who knows how much was scammed.
And I am sure it's still going on.

Often the money went to freinds of freinds due to political favors.
Our government often works on who's owes who a favor or wants one.
It's one reason we have a debt of almost 34 trillion .Most are are or become multi millionaires .president and Congress
There is 1 exception Trump net worth dropped about a billion.

 

[the annoying thing]

Here's one I just love that was funded under O bung and No show Joe .
A grant to a project where they tested the social effects on great apes when high on cocaine and how cocaine effected female apes menstrual cycle and how it effected their sex lives .
I'm sure it was the important to the democrat administrative as they funded it for several years.
And the so called Biden inflation plan had nothing to do with inflation it was all about green energy and climate control.