Could a Vancouver company’s electric bus revolutionize transit systems?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It has been called a bus combined with a Tesla.

A Vancouver-based company is hoping to take the next step in transit evolution, as it shows off their new all-electric bus today.

Green Power Motor Company hopes its in-production electric bus could replace both traditional diesel and the more historic trolly bus.

While the new bus costs around $300,000 more than a traditional diesel, company chair Fraser Atkinson says long-term savings make it worthwhile.

“We have calculated fuel savings of $50,000 to $60,000 routinely for different transit agencies that have asked for the what the difference is between their diesel fuel cost versus the electricity cost for our bus.”

As for replacing the trolly bus, Atkinson says it’s all about flexibility.

“That type of system, while having some economic value, is a fixed system. So to the extent that a transit agency wants to change a route or deploy buses in different ways, if you don’t have that flexibility, then you don’t have a flexible system.”

King County in Washington has already ordered a pair of the buses, as the company continues to showcase them across North America, including today at the Vancouver Convention Centre at 11 a.m.

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