BC Transit's battery-electric bus manufacturer files for bankruptcy

Example of a Proterra electric-battery bus. (Proterra)

The ripple effects are being felt across the global electric vehicle industry after Proterra — a battery-electric bus manufacturing firm that was repeatedly touted by US president Joe Biden in recent years — filed for bankruptcy protection.

The California-based company announced today it has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy to protect its business and product lines.

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In a statement, Proterra CEO Gareth Joyce blames various market and macroeconomic headwinds for impacting their ability to efficiently scale their operations.

“As commercial vehicles accelerate towards electrification, we look forward to sharpening our focus as a leading EV battery technology supplier for the benefit of our many stakeholders,” said Joyce in a statement.

Proterra intends to restructure itself, with the proceedings better enabling the company to pay employee salaries and benefits, and compensate vendors and suppliers — all in a manner of “ensuring business continuity for customers.”

In May 2022, following a bidding process, BC Transit selected Proterra to provide the provincial public transit authority with 10 ZX5 model battery-electric buses and one charger — a contract worth $20 million.

The contract also provides BC Transit with the option to acquire additional battery-electric buses and charging equipment.

In a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized, BC Transit states they will “continue to monitor the situation which includes keeping close contact with Proterra as they navigate through their proceedings and assess how it will impact our current orders.”

The provincial public transit authority notes they remain under contract for the 10 battery-electric buses, which are still planned to arrive in Victoria in Fall 2023.

“BC Transit will be evaluating the status of any work with Proterra to assess potential exposure and risk factors. BC Transit has an existing non-exclusive agreement with Proterra to support future bus purchases. This agreement is flexible and allows BC Transit the option to purchase buses from other manufacturers,” reads BC Transit’s statement.

BC Transit has a goal of having a 100% battery-electric bus fleet by 2040, with an interim target of replacing 500 aging buses with battery-electric models by the early 2030s.

TransLink in Metro Vancouver is also undergoing a similar transition to an all-electric bus fleet. Its suppliers are existing longtime bus manufacturers based in Canada who have been designing and building fossil fuel-powered buses for decades, and are now expanding into battery-electric models.

This specifically entails Manitoba-based New Flyer and Quebec-based Nova Bus, which is a division of Volvo. Both companies are responsible for TransLink’s existing conventional bus fleet of nearly 1,500 vehicles.

This year, TransLink is receiving 15 new additional battery-electric buses from Nova Bus, which will enable for the full conversion of the No. 100 22nd Street Station/Marpole Loop bus route along Marine Drive and Marine Way — linking South Vancouver, South Burnaby, and New Westminster — into its first 100% battery-electric bus route.

Starting later in August 2023, TransLink is also expected to test the use of a new trolley bus model with a longer-range battery for off-wire operations.

As of earlier this year, Proterra has manufactured nearly 1,000 battery-electric bus vehicles for its customers.

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