600-series Proterra BE40/ZX5 - Updates

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

39 minutes ago, YoungBusLover said:

Welp I guess the BE40s really couldn't handle a constant charge. 😂😂😂

I guess that also means the chargers at midway don’t work

[Busjack]

19 minutes ago, Erin Mishkin Jr. said:

I guess that also means the chargers at midway don’t work

I guess that's a fair interpretation. Maybe why they think they can run them on X49. But responsibility for that charger is NF's.

What's more significant is the statement at the end that the contract with Phoenix Motorcars was canceled for default. I said for a long time it should have been (and that CTA should have gotten out of it in the bankruptcy proceeding).

[79th to lakefront 1302]

They should made a charger at 95th and ravenswood if it runs on 9 Ashland 

[Policeman]

50 minutes ago, 79th to lakefront 1302 said:

They should made a charger at 95th and ravenswood if it runs on 9 Ashland 

fund some money and put a charger there then… while ur at it, order more buses 

[Mr.NewFlyer1279]

8 hours ago, 79th to lakefront 1302 said:

They should made a charger at 95th and ravenswood if it runs on 9 Ashland 

 

[Busjack]

11 hours ago, 79th to lakefront 1302 said:

They should made a charger at 95th and ravenswood if it runs on 9 Ashland 

 

10 hours ago, Policeman said:

fund some money and put a charger there then… while ur at it, order more buses 

@79th to lakefront 1302 implied question was actually perceptive, if one had read the Charging Forward documents and the sheet @YoungBusLover posted.

The essential question is garage charging vs. en route charging. Most of the consultants have said that garage charging is more efficient than building chargers (and apparently substations) all over the place. The references to chargers at Navy Pier and Chicago/Austin reflect a time when a BE40 got maybe 80 miles on a charge. There was also a "partner grant," where 103rd was supposed to get 6 NovaBus LFSe buses and some chargers at 95th/Red Line. IDK if that money is still available. One could argue that 103rd is close enough to 95th.

The statement that 63 needs shorter blocks in winter is consistent with garage charging. (A block is the time a bus is out of the garage.)

If there was any waste of money, it was the $1 million spent to upgrade 700 and 701 and install the Midway charger, if that charger isn't working.

[79th to lakefront 1302]

610 went back to 74th garage 

611 back in service it on the 63

[andrethebusman99]

So looks like 600 is going to end up a "test mule" of sorts, likely never seeing service again (like 700 and 701). Hopefully any more battery jobs will be New Flyer, which seems to be having decent success with their XE40 and XE60 types. In Canada, seems most major cities now have Nova LFSe+'s with good success. Proterra was just a evolutionary dead end apparently. Good riddance.

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, andrethebusman99 said:

Hopefully any more battery jobs will be New Flyer, which seems to be having decent success with their XE40 and XE60 types.... Proterra was just a evolutionary dead end apparently. Good riddance.

As noted above, CTA and Pace have a joint solicitation. and, at this point, it will be up to the NITA Board to approve the contract. Considering that Gillig is now delivering BEBs to Pace, and apparently CTA is on the Pace Gillig hybrid contract, they must still be considered in contention for the joint solicitation. I can't see how PhoenixEV can be considered a responsible bidder.

[79th to lakefront 1302]

622 is back in service 

[Bus1807]

#608 is currently operating on the 65. Do they charge it at Navy Pier only? There’s no charger at Nordica.

[Busjack]

1 minute ago, Bus1807 said:

#608 is currently operating on the 65. Do they charge it at Navy Pier only? There’s no charger at Nordica.

People have noted that it is often interlined with 66 or makes the trip to Chicago-Austin.

If you read up the topic a couple of years ago, there were also 600s that made westbound trips on 12. More recently, 74th's have made trips on routes without chargers. Garage charging may be sufficient.

[Bus1807]

1 minute ago, Busjack said:

People have noted that it is often interlined with 66 or makes the trip to Chicago-Austin.

If you read up the topic a couple of years ago, there were also 600s that made westbound trips on 12. More recently, 74th's have made trips on routes without chargers. Garage charging may be sufficient.

That makes more sense. It also depends on how much it’s charged for the day. Which is where garage charging and Navy Pier charging comes in.

[busfan2847]

9 minutes ago, Bus1807 said:

#608 is currently operating on the 65. Do they charge it at Navy Pier only? There’s no charger at Nordica.

They are supposed to go at least 220 miles between full charges (overnight at garage). Should be good for several journeys on 65 or 66 without charging at the termini.

[Bus1807]

4 minutes ago, busfan2847 said:

They are supposed to go at least 220 miles between full charges (overnight at garage). Should be good for several journeys on 65 or 66 without charging at the termini.

In my opinion, 220 miles is more than enough for a few trips on the 65. Then again, it has block id 65 so its probably not going to the 66 today.

[Elkmn]

22 hours ago, Busjack said:

 More recently, 74th's have made trips on routes without chargers. Garage charging may be sufficient.

I can't believe they ran one on the x49 a little while back 😂

[Bus1807]

14 minutes ago, Elkmn said:

I can't believe they ran one on the x49 a little while back 😂

Yup, #611 was the bus. 

[Bus1807]

#621 has returned to service on the 65 and 66 today.

[Bus1807]

Speaking of #621, it is 10 minutes late at Navy Pier and EL tracker is glitching saying 0 minutes and 1 minute from arriving at Grand and Streeter. Anyone know what’s going on?