New Flyer Battery-Electric Xcelsior CHARGE® Buses; Spurs Zero-Emission Evolution on California’s 3rd Largest Campus
St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA – July 15, 2021: (TSX: NFI) New Flyer of America Inc. (“New Flyer”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), a leading independent bus and coach manufacturer and a leader in electric mass mobility solutions, today announced that Unitrans – the University of California, Davis (“UC Davis”) transit system – has purchased six New Flyer Xcelsior CHARGE® battery-electric, forty-foot heavy-duty transit buses off of the California Department of General Services (“DGS”) contract.
New Flyer was selected by DGS as an approved supplier of electric vehicles in 2019. The DGS contract simplifies potential future bus procurement for California local government agencies for up to five years.
Unitrans operates in and around the UC Davis campus, providing mobility to more than 45,000 students and delivering over four million passenger trips per year. Unitrans has pursued alternative fuels for nearly a decade, a strategy accelerated by the California Air Resources Board’s adoption of the Innovative Clean Transit regulation in 2018, which mandates the state’s public transit agencies to transition to 100% zero-emission bus fleets by 2040.
The purchase is supported by Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”) funds and begins conversion of the current Unitrans fleet, comprised of compressed natural gas buses (“CNG”), to zero-emission as existing vehicles reach end of life. Full electrification of the fleet – anticipated for completion in the early 2030’s – is a joint venture between the campus and city, both focused on sustainability and mitigation of climate change.
“Having delivered 37 low-emission CNG buses to Unitrans since 2009, we now turn our focus to advancing UC Davis toward cleaner, more sustainable, and climate-friendly mobility,” said Chris Stoddart, President, North America Bus and Coach. “Over 50 years of engineering electric buses has enabled continual innovation of our zero-emission technology, and today our Xcelsior CHARGE® buses are meeting the increasing demand for sustainable transportation. Together with Unitrans, we are creating healthier, quieter, more livable communities while mitigating climate change head on.”
NFI subsidiary Alexander Dennis Limited has also supported Unitrans’ evolution to zero-emission, with four low-emission Alexander Dennis Enviro500 forty-foot double deck buses delivered between 2010 and 2017.
New Flyer EVs continue to drive the transition to zero-emission, directly supported by New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™ providing safe and reliable infrastructure services for smart, sustainable mobility projects. For information on New Flyer’s zero-emission buses, visit newflyer.com/CHARGE, and for information on infrastructure services, visit newflyer.com/infrastructuresolutions.
NFI is a leader in zero-emission mobility, with electric vehicles operating or on order in more than 80 cities in four countries. Today, NFI supports growing North American cities with scalable, clean, and sustainable mobility solutions through a four-pillar approach that includes buses and coaches, technology, infrastructure, and workforce development. It also operates the VIC, the first and only innovation lab of its kind dedicated to advancing bus and coach technology and providing workforce development. Since opening late 2017, the VIC has hosted over 300 interactive events, welcoming 3,000 industry professionals for EV and infrastructure training. For more information, visit newflyer.com/VIC.
News and information is available at www.nfigroup.com, www.newflyer.com, www.mcicoach.com, www.arbocsv.com, www.alexander-dennis.com, and www.nfi.parts.
Image courtesy of New Flyer