Proterra Inc, manufacturer of zero-emission commercial transit solutions, today announced the completion of its first bus assembled entirely at its Phase 1 manufacturing facility in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Phase 1 facility at 25 Whitlee Court is manufacturing Proterra's EcoRide BE35™ buses and FastFill™ charging stations.
Proterra is working with local support to break ground on its larger state-of-the-art Phase 2 plant located on Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research campus in the spring of 2011.
The EcoRide BE35 is the world's first battery electric bus that can charge in under ten minutes. It has 500 percent better fuel efficiency than a diesel bus with between 17 and 29 miles per gallon (diesel equivalent) and can operate all day as a replacement for conventional liquid-fueled vehicles.
"All of Greenville congratulates Proterra on achieving this milestone," said mayor Knox White. "We look forward to working with Proterra on the completion of additional buses from this facility and helping the company open the doors of its Phase 2 facilities in 2012."
The first bus will be sent to the Altoona Bus Research and Testing Center for safety testing required by the FTA. It will be the first all-electric bus tested at the center and once tests are completed, Proterra will be able to mass produce and sell the bus on a commercial scale.
"This has been an exciting time for me," said Westy Bowen, who grew up in Sumter, South Carolina and is now vice-president of supply chain at Proterra. "The company now has over 120 workers and growing with many local hires. We have begun to shift work from other states to South Carolina-based suppliers, creating even more jobs in my state and local area."
Proterra has been fielding an increasing number of orders and inquiries from transit agencies in the United States and internationally since September, when the company worked with Foothill Transit in Southern California to successfully roll out three of Proterra's EcoRide BE35 transit buses.
