Madison’s Electric Buses Keep Running Through Brutal Freeze

Madison’s electric buses are weathering the test of extreme winter weather, a serious concern for electric fleets, reports Benton Graham in Grist.

“Metro Transit, which provides about 9.1 million rides annually, installed overhead chargers on key routes, allowing buses to quickly top off at several stops. Improved battery capacity also lets them go farther between plug-ins.” When temperatures fell to -4 degrees Fahrenheit on January 23, the buses kept running. 

According to Graham, “Just a few years ago, electric buses routinely faltered in cold conditions, reinforcing doubts about whether they could replace diesel and natural gas-burning fleets in northern cities. Now, with better batteries and strategically placed chargers, Madison is at the forefront of a small but growing number of cities testing whether those doubts still hold.”