Electric Bus

[patric]

With the approval of a purchase Friday, Tulsa's Metropolitan Transit Authority will phase out its five remaining diesel buses.

The Transit Authority’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted Friday to purchase seven electric buses for roughly $1.3 million each. Transit Authority Maintenance Director Randy Cloud said they'll replace the city's remaining diesel units.

The electric buses will be in Tulsa in two years, Cloud said.

Most of Tulsa’s buses use compressed natural gas, which produce fewer carbon emissions than diesel.

Cloud said it doesn’t make sense to go fully electric in this part of the country.

"We experienced the storm back on Father’s Day, where a lot of people were without electricity for a week. If your fleet’s totally electric and you have a storm like that where the power grid goes down for multiple days, we have no buses on the street.
https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-regional/2023-09-29/mta-board-votes-to-phase-out-tulsas-diesel-buses

Maybe look up for inspiration...

[heironymouspasparagus]

Gonna need more panels.

Wonder if he has ever heard of a new invention called a "generator".  Backup method used by millions for decades!  And use natural gas for the generators - clean, efficient, cost-effective.   And something they are already set up for.


Would like to have one of the old ones for a bus RV conversion, but very hard to convert over to diesel fuel.  And to stay with CNG, will have to have new fuel tanks. 

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Even Tesla uses diesel generators to help power their "Supercharger" locations.

From the San Francisco Gate:

The Harris Ranch Tesla Supercharger has a couple of things going for it that have made it a part of Tesla enthusiasts’ lore: It’s one of the electric car giant’s first Supercharger stations, and with 98 charging bays, it’s also the biggest in the world.  
 
The Central California charging station is such a big deal that Tesla clubs even make it an appointment destination. Yes, they’ll rally-style drive to it just to honor its lineage and size.  
 
But as with many Tesla-related things, there is a secret, thinly obscured by an Oz-like curtain, at the Harris Ranch Supercharger. Hidden in plain sight across the way from the Harris Ranch Supercharger’s main stations, behind a Shell station, is a small diesel plant that has helped power Tesla’s footprint.  

https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/tesla-interstate-5-supercharger-power-plant-18343119.php

The building in this Google Maps image used to be the car wash but now houses the diesel generator plant.

[Red Arrow]

The implication from the picture is that the school buses are electric.  Do "we" really know that.  Are the panels really just providing shade/protection for the buses with the solar panels feeding some other use?

School buses run for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon, which would allow them to be charged between then.  Public transit buses probably wouldn't get that break.  I guess the public transit buses could be charged overnight from batteries charged during the day.

Maybe look up for inspiration...

[dbacksfan 2.0]

The implication from the picture is that the school buses are electric.  Do "we" really know that.  Are the panels really just providing shade/protection for the buses with the solar panels feeding some other use?

School buses run for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon, which would allow them to be charged between then.  Public transit buses probably wouldn't get that break.  I guess the public transit buses could be charged overnight from batteries charged during the day.

That set up in the photo is everywhere out here. Most every place that has covered parking has panels on top that supplement the building where they are at. JMO, those to structures don't look like they have enough panels to charge those buses all at once, even if it's not all of them.

The parking area on the left is for the high school next to it.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mixB5DALnqUFCmoj7

[heironymouspasparagus]

The implication from the picture is that the school buses are electric.  Do "we" really know that.  Are the panels really just providing shade/protection for the buses with the solar panels feeding some other use?

School buses run for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon, which would allow them to be charged between then.  Public transit buses probably wouldn't get that break.  I guess the public transit buses could be charged overnight from batteries charged during the day.

I was driving around near Norman OK last week and there is a small OEC Solar Garden on I-35 at Franklin Road, Norman.  There is a much bigger solar system in the parking lot of the JCI factory (York Air Conditioners) just northeast of that - much bigger than Google Earth shows!  I know a guy... so sent note asking about that.  It has already been blasted by a storm and then rebuilt.  Big installation!


If you ever find yourself about 50 miles east of Memphis, near the Pilot at the state highway 222 exit, you can wander around a while and get to a pretty good size solar farm.  TVA Haywood Solar Substation.  Wrapped around a rest area, it is much easier to get to when westbound. No wandering required.   Pretty good size!  Can see well on Google Earth.

[patric]

School buses run for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon, which would allow them to be charged between then.  Public transit buses probably wouldn't get that break.  I guess the public transit buses could be charged overnight from batteries charged during the day.

The director made it sound like "the grid," made up mostly of wire strung between poles in the middle of tornado alley, is the only option.
It isnt.

Im more a fan of point-of-use solar than I am of big solar farms, mainly because with the farms you are still dependent on that ancient infrastructure to get the power where you need it. There is no rule that says solar has to be centralized; you build them wherever you park your busses.

[Red Arrow]

If you ever find yourself about 50 miles east of Memphis, near the Pilot at the state highway 222 exit, you can wander around a while and get to a pretty good size solar farm.  TVA Haywood Solar Substation.  Wrapped around a rest area, it is much easier to get to when westbound. No wandering required.   Pretty good size!  Can see well on Google Earth.

Pretty good size.  Can be seen on Google Maps too.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/N89r1Lcuv99wkxYU7

https://solarfarm.tennessee.edu

[heironymouspasparagus]

Pretty good size.  Can be seen on Google Maps too.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/N89r1Lcuv99wkxYU7

https://solarfarm.tennessee.edu

My plan is to stop there sometime just to look around at it and maybe take some pics.  Sadly, all our recent trips have been "hair on fire" crisis trips with no spar time.