USA Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has taken delivery of a pair of New Flyer Xcelsior XE40 battery-electric buses, part of a contract that was awarded to the Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada manufacturer in 2012. The buses are to be operated on six routes.
While the CTA vehicles are the first XE40 heavy-duty transit buses to enter into regular transit service, an earlier prototype bus has undergone all-weather service testing in Winnipeg and has been operating in shuttle service since March 2014.
The CTA buses are equipped with 300kWh of energy storage providing a range of up to 120 miles on a single charge. The buses feature a Siemens electric drive system as well as electric subsystems and accessories currently used on New Flyer’s Xcelsior XDE40 diesel-electric hybrid bus.
“We’re extremely exited and proud that CTA has joined us on our zero-emission technology journey.” Said Paul Soubry, New Flyer President and CEO. “We took a very calculated approach when we decided to enter into battery-electric bus technology, knowing how important reliability and up-time is to our customers. The XE40 builds on our proven Xcelsior bus and introduces electric propulsion technology that has been successfully demonstrated in other areas of the transportation industry.”
