BC Transit's battery buses coming to Victoria, Fraser Valley, and Whistler

BC Transit's battery-electric buses coming to Victoria, Fraser Valley, and Whistler

A BYD battery-electric bus being tested in 2018. (BC Transit)

Victoria, Chilliwack, and Whistler will be amongst the first nine jurisdictions to see the use of BC Transit’s new fleet of battery-electric buses.

Other jurisdictions on the list include Nanaimo, Sunshine Coast, Powell River, Nelson, Kamloops, and Kelowna.

The provincial public transit authority indicated today that it will install about 134 new bus charging stations over the next two years in these service areas. The precise battery-electric bus allocations to each jurisdiction will be confirmed at a later date. The charging infrastructure installation work will be conducted over the next two years.

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Quebec’s Nova Bus and Manitoba’s New Flyer will supply an order of 66 battery-electric buses, which will arrive between early 2025 and mid-2026 to become the provincial public transit authority’s first battery-electric buses. Subsequent orders of additional battery-electric buses will be placed at a later date to reach the target initial fleet size of 115 battery-electric buses.

“Electrification of our fleet is a significant part of our plan to reduce GHG emissions and ensure a cleaner and healthier future for everyone,” said Erinn Pinkerton, president and CEO of BC Transit, in a statement today.

“With other active procurements underway and work advancing on charging infrastructure designs in communities, it’s an exciting time for BC Transit and our partners!”

BC Transit is covering the cost of these battery-electric buses and charging infrastructure through the July 2023-announced $396 million electrification program, with the federal government covering $170 million, the provincial government covering $159 million, and the provincial public transit authority covering the remainder of $67 million.

In March 2024, BC Transit announced its first battery-electric buses would no longer be manufactured by California-based Proterra. BC Transit selected Proterra in 2022 to fulfill an initial order of 10 battery-electric buses to serve Victoria. Shortly after, in 2023, Proterra filed for bankruptcy, and its public transit business was subsequently acquired by Phoenix Motors. However, Phoenix Motors later made a decision to not proceed with the order for BC Transit, which was a move approved and confirmed by the courts.

BC Transit’s counterpart of TransLink within Metro Vancouver also has ambitious electrification plans, with an aim to order nearly 500 battery-electric buses by 2030 and make significant investments in building new bus depots and upgrading existing bus depots to handle the charging and maintenance requirements of such a fleet. Currently, site preparation is well underway on the new Marpole Transit Centre — a 20-acre bus depot located on a vacant site next to the Fraser River in South Vancouver, serving the needs of up to 350 battery-electric buses.

Later in 2024, TransLink is expected to convert the No. 100 bus route along Marine Drive/Marine Way between SkyTrain’s Marine Drive and 22nd Street stations into the public transit authority’s first 100% battery-electric bus route. This is made possible by the arrival of an order of 15 battery-electric buses.

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