The first batch is 12 units, after which the company will decide whether to order up to 63 more units.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) has placed an order for 12 all-electric New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE, forty-foot heavy-duty transit buses.

It’s just a cautious beginning, as the contract has an option for up to 63 additional electric buses (total of up to 75), thirty-five or forty-foot lengths throughout the remaining term of the two-year agreement.

According to the press release, CTDOT owns and operates nearly all public transportation services in Connecticut (more than 27 million annual trips), which means that this order might become a kind of bridgehead for broader electrification.

The transit agencies are still quite cautious about EVs and they are usually buying only when incentives are available, which suggests that the premium prices are still too high. In the case of CTDOT, the purchase was supported by Federal Transit Administration funds:

“The purchase, supported by Federal Transit Administration funds, furthers the CTDOT Electric Bus Initiative, a partnership between CTDOT, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and bus transit providers that has committed to providing a safe, reliable, sustainable clean energy transportation system.”

So far, New Flyer has sold some 900 buses to CTDOT. Only time will tell whether EVs will be also purchased in the hundreds.

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