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TransLink begins new era of bus electrification

TransLink begins new era of bus electrification

New battery-electric bus

A new member of the family has charged into service.

The new LFSe+ battery-electric bus from Nova Bus is now running on Metro Vancouver streets, making its world debut. This is the first of 15 new battery-electric buses that will replace aging diesel buses and reduce over 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Each new bus:

  • Can travel over 150 kilometres on a single charge (~4 times further than the current model)
  • Can top up its battery for the next trip at overhead on-route fast charge stations in approximately 5 minutes
  • Will save TransLink $40,000 in fuel costs annually
  • Uses new, lighter seats that were voted on by customers last year
    • These seats make the bus 250 pounds lighter, which helps it to travel further on a single charge

This is the fifth battery-electric bus to join our bus fleet. When all 19 buses are in service in early 2024, the 100 22nd Street Station/Marpole Loop route becomes the first route to be fully electrified by battery-electric buses.

Route 100 is the only route with overhead charging infrastructure at either end, so it is currently the only route with on-route charging capabilities for battery-electric buses. In the coming months, we’ll announce the purchase of more battery-electric buses as well as the charging infrastructure to support them.

Based on targets outlined in TransLink’s Climate Action Strategy and Transport 2050: 10-Year Priorities, we plan to add more than 400 battery-electric buses to the fleet by 2030, transition to a zero-emission bus fleet by 2040, and become net-zero in all operations by 2050.

Dan Mountain

I'm just a guy who hates bios, but likes trains... and buses... and SeaBuses.

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