Biden’s legacy lingers in the failing Proterra electric buses he promoted during his presidency

As part of its expansive climate agenda, the Biden-Harris administration heavily promoted a transition to electric buses, which included special attention to electric bus-manufacturer Proterra. 

The company went bankrupt in August 2023, and in January 2024, Phoenix EV purchased Proterra with the approval of the Bankruptcy Court. While the company tries to move forward, Proterra left a trail of broken and irreparable buses in numerous transit districts across the country. Some districts report that, while the situation has improved, many of the buses are still in a state of disrepair. 

The Trump administration’s funding freeze has blocked many of the Biden-Harris administration’s climate programs, and thrown others into uncertainty. Among those that could be targeted are the $1.5 billion the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) granted last year for city transit districts to buy zero- or low-emission vehicles. 

Putting the brakes on electric buses

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority in Florida ordered 13 electric buses to add to its existing 123 electric and hybrid buses, with the $28 million it received last year from the federal program, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Now it’s pausing the purchases. Even though multiple federal rulings have suspended President Donald Trump’s funding freeze, the FTA doesn’t provide the funds until the district receives the buses, which will be in 2026. 

With the risk that the funds will get slashed, the authority isn’t taking any chances. According to the Times, however, the budget bill passed on Friday maintains funding for the buses, and so the authority may proceed with the purchases. While it’s not clear from what company Pinellas is ordering the new electric buses, the authority has previously purchased Proterra buses in the past. 

Starting out with a bang

Early on, Proterra’s customers were noticing serious failures with the buses. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority purchased five Proterra buses in 2019. The company promised ranges of 100 to 120 miles on a single charge, but the authority found they ran as little as 60 to 100 miles on a charge — even less in cold weather.

Proterra’s initial public offering in January 2021 raised nearly $650 million, which was three times more than its revenues. Before she was Biden’s energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm served on Proterra’s board. In May 2021, before assuming the lead at the Department of Energy, Granholm sold all her Proterra holdings, providing her with net capital gains of $1.6 million.

A month before, President Joe Biden took a virtual tour of a Proterra facility, using it to promote his infrastructure plan, which included approximately $6.5 billion in grants, according to The Wall Street Journal, to help replace diesel-powered school and transit buses with electric vehicles. “The fact is, you’re making me look good,” the president said.

Despite Proterra’s bankruptcy, his administration continued to promote electric buses, which included billions in funding for electric school buses — a program former Vice-President Kamala Harris headed up — which have also seen their share of problems. Harris was an outspoken champion of the electric school bus program, holding events with EPA Administrator Michael Regan in Greensboro, North Carolina, and in Fairfax, Virginia, where she praised Thomas Built Buses. That company has been manufacturing school buses since 1916, and received at least $42 million in grants and rebates from Harris’ electric bus fund, according to the EPA’s website on the program.

Awaiting parts

Capital Metro in Austin, Texas, purchased 46 Proterra buses, costing about $1 million a piece. The liberal city had planned to transition all its city buses to electric, but in November, Capital Metro had to put all 46 into storage due to a lack of charging infrastructure to keep them running all day. 

Blythe Nebeker, a communications specialist with Capital Metro, told Just the News that 36 of the electric buses are currently in temporary storage. They are routinely inspected, driven and recharged, and they expect to pull them out of storage later this year. Nine of the ten buses, he said, currently need maintenance work, either awaiting parts or technical assistance from Phoenix. 

The Austin American-Statesman reported in November that Canadian electric bus supplier New Flyer was providing Capital Metro with services and parts due to its problems with Proterra. Of 58 New Flyer buses, 40 were to begin transporting passengers eight hours per day. The short day was due to a lack of chargers at the end of the buses’ routes. 

Nebeker said in the interview that Capital Metro continues to receive support from New Flyer. “While most of that effort has been focused on the New Flyer fleet, the experience and skills gained by the workforce will be transferable to working on the Proterra buses,” he said. 

Currently, Nebeker said, 77% of the city’s buses are powered by diesel. The Capital Metro Board of Directors adopted a sustainability plan in 2022, with the goal of being carbon-neutral by 2040. Nebeker said Capital Metro plans to transition to a fully zero-emissions fleet by that year. 

The situation is improving

AC Transit, the main bus operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, didn’t purchase its zero-emission buses from Proterra. According to Robert Lyles, media affairs manager for AC Transit, the operator has 23 battery-powered electric buses from the California-based manufacturer, Gillig, and 30 hydrogen fuel cell buses it acquired from New Flyer’s Alabama-based facility. Hydrogen fuel cells work similar to a battery, but they don’t need recharging. So long as they’re supplied with hydrogen, they produce a charge. 

Lyles said that the daily availability of their zero-emissions fleet is approximately 55% for battery-electric buses and 65% for hydrogen fuel cell buses. “Several factors influence bus availability on any revenue service day, such as operator availability, operational adjustments, and maintenance or repairs,” Lyles told Just the News. 

He said when it comes to repairs, AC Transit is still experiencing challenges. There were some disruptions caused by the pandemic, but five years later, the district continues to face supply chain issues. “While conditions have improved somewhat, we still compete with other transit agencies to secure warrantied batteries from our bus manufacturers,” Lyles said. 

AC Transit began pursuing programs to reduce its emissions in 1999, Lyles said. Unlike other districts that have had problems with their charging infrastructure, Lyles said AC Transit installed, owns and operates its own. He said this grants the district reliability and flexibility when making upgrades or replacements. 

The district is planning to replace vehicles as they reach the end of their useful life with zero-emissions buses. These will be replaced with 70% hydrogen fuel cell buses and 30% battery electric. 

Back out and running

One district told Just the News that it’s not having any major problems with its charging infrastructure or its buses. The Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA), which serves Palmdale, Lancaster and Northern Los Angeles County in California, set out to become the nation’s first fully electric fleet in 2016. In April 2020, ATVA decommissioned its last diesel bus and now runs entirely on a battery-electric fleet. James Royal, director of marketing for AVTA, told Just the News that even their service vehicles are electric. 

“There may be challenges. There are challenges with anything. We get the vehicles serviced and back out and running. But we’re 100% electric. We don’t have an option to send out a diesel fleet,” Royal said. 

The company sourced its vehicles from MCI Coaches and RIDE, a U.S. spin-off of the Chinese company BYD. Royal said that, according to ATVA’s mechanics and operations staff, sometimes there are delays in sourcing parts for major components. This is likely due to these larger parts not being stocked locally. RIDE has a facility in Lancaster. “So if we need parts, we simply go pick them up. Even when there is a delay, it is only a week or two,” Royal said. 

The district has 100 plug-in chargers on site, he said, but they have a diesel-powered generator for backup, which can charge 15 buses at once. Royal said during really hot weather, the charge times can be much longer, but they have no problem getting technicians for any repairs. 

Picking winners and losers

For those that have gone with Proterra, the problems continue. Districts in South Florida spent $126 million to purchase 117 electric Proterra buses, NPR affiliate WUSF reported last month, and only about seven of them are operational. Everett Transit in Washington expects that five of its nine Proterra buses will become inoperable before the end of the year, according to local news outlet KIRO. The district is looking to sell them all off. 

Everett Transit may not get much for the sale. The Washington, D.C., city government auctioned off two Proterra buses in January. A 2017 bus sold for just under $25,000 and a 2022 fetched a little over $36,000. With a purchase price of around $1 million each, the city took a big loss for its Biden-favored buses. 

Districts that have attempted to transition to zero-emission buses appear to have had a lot more luck if they didn’t purchase Proterra buses. It’s perhaps another cautionary tale of government picking winners and losers.