The BNEF award scheme celebrates ‘gam-changing innovators’ who revolutionise the energy sector. The winners are selected from a broad range of industries, including advanced transportation, bioenergy, energy storage, solar and wind. Proterra was named as a New Energy Pioneer at the eighth annual Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York City.
The announcement follows the award of a $3 million grant to the company by the California Energy Commission to help fund the design, development and construction of Proterra’s new state-of-the-art zero-emission, battery-electric transit bus manufacturing line in California. The company also recently secured its largest bus order to date from returning customer Foothill Transit.
“We are honored to be named a New Energy Pioneer” said Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra. “This is a significant time for our company as we scale production nationally to meet growing customer demand. To be recognized by Bloomberg for this effort helps underscore the momentum we are seeing for zero-emission mass transit.”
Michael Wilshire, Selection Committee Chair and Head of Analysis of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, added that BNEF has been struck by the amount of innovation the candidates displayed and the impact they are already having on global energy systems.
An independent panel of industry experts, assisted by Bloomberg technology experts, selected 10 winners from applicants across the globe. Each candidate was assessed against the criteria of potential scale, innovation and momentum.
Proterra designs and manufactures zero-emission transit buses with the aim of significantly reducing operating costs for bus fleet operators while also delivering clean and quiet transportation to local communities. The highly energy-efficient fast-charge Catalyst vehicle platform is currently in operation in cities across the US and is available in configurations carrying between 53 kWh and 131 kWh of energy storage. It can be fully recharged in under 10 minutes. The extended-range Catalyst XR is available in configurations carrying between 129 kWh and 321 kWh of energy storage and can be recharged in a little over an hour.
The buses incorporate the newly introduced TerraVolt XR extended-range battery, enabling them to be configured to travel up to 180 miles between charges. The new high-energy density battery complements the existing TerraVolt FC fast-charge battery. The two batteries are key components of Proterra’s TerraFlex energy system and can be used interchangeably in the Catalyst vehicle platform. This enables customers to select the right amount and type of energy storage to meet specific route requirements. The battery packs can also be easily reconfigured to meet evolving service needs and are compatible with Proterra’s on-route and in-depot chargers.
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