FTA Zero-Emission Electric Transit Bus Program
T he program is presently inactive.

Phase IV
Phase IV Summary and Conclusions (140 kb)
Phase four was announced in September 2003. The US Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funded half of the $1.5 million cost-shared budget associated with the most recent phase of Arotech's Electric Fuel Zinc-Air Electric Transit Bus Program. The remainder of the budget was shared by the partners in the program. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) lead the project's peer review committee, and supporting demonstration drives in Southern Nevada.

The Phase IV program explored steps necessary for commercializing the all-electric zinc-air / ultracapacitor hybrid bus. It focused on continued optimization of the propulsion system developed in previous Phases, on additional vehicle and system testing, including testing alternative advanced auxiliary battery technologies, and on evaluating alternative zinc anodes, which are more commercially available in North America.

A performance evaluation test took place in August 2004 in Rome, NY.

Phase III
Phase III Summary and Conclusions (161 kb, pdf format)
Phase three was announced in October 2002. The US Department of Transportation approved funding for 50% of the costs up to a total Phase III cost of $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration's 2002 R&D budget.

The Phase III effort focused on installation, testing and commissioning of new generation advanced ultracapacitors and associated interface controls. Advanced techniques were used to implement control of the bus auxiliaries to optimize their efficiency and minimize energy consumption. The entire system was analyzed, assessed and compared to previous configurations. Further evaluations of the system and vehicle performance, including track testing and limited on-road demonstrations were carried out.

Electric Fuel is the principal partner, with technical and administrative responsibility for Phase III. The responsibilities of GE Corporate Research & Development, a partner in the effort, relate to the auxiliary control system and the ultracapacitor configuration. RTC, also a partner in Phase II, continues its role in leading the project's peer review committee.

A performance evaluation test took place in Rome, New York in July 2003 where it has demonstrated a record 145-mile range under rigorous urban conditions. New ultra capacitors installed on the bus, together with improved energy management systems, greatly increasing the system's efficiency. Conducted under the same conditions of an earlier tests, these improvements increased the bus's range from 127 to 145 miles, a 14% increase from July 2002 testing and a 43% improvement from the same test in 2001.

An On-road demonstration of the bus took place on November 6 in Albany, NY.

Phase II
The second phase of this project was announced in January 2001. The US Department of Transportation approved funding for 50% of the costs up to a total Phase II cost of $1.5 million from the Federal Transit Administration's 2001 R&D budget.

The Phase II effort focused on: conducting evaluations of the system and vehicle performance, including track testing and limited on-road demonstrations; enhancing the all-electric propulsion system developed in Phase I, including incorporating ultracapacitors and associated interface controls; and testing and evaluating the zinc-air battery system.

Electric Fuel wass the principal consortium partner, with overall technical and administrative responsibility for Phase II. The primary responsibilities of GE Corporate Research & Development, a partner in the Phase II effort, relate to the modification of the energy management system. RTC, also a partner in Phase II, continued its role in leading the project's peer review committee, and in arranging the demonstration drives in Clark County, Nevada.

Test-track drives in Schenectady (as well as other locations in upstate NY) that took place in summer 2001 concentrated on evaluating the operating performance of the full-length, 40-foot, battery-battery hybrid electric transit bus developed and integrated under the previous FTA contract covering Phase 1 of the program.

During the course of the testing, the Company showed that the bus meets all requirements for a transit bus, including range, acceleration, and the ability to operate with power-consuming auxiliary equipment such as air conditioning. The test drives included constant-velocity driving such as is typical in suburban transit systems, as well as urban stop-and-go driving cycles such as the standard CBD-14 transit duty cycle.

The bus was refueled using a prototype mobile refueling system developed with funding from the U.S.-Israel Bi-national R&D (“BIRD'') Fund, and using fuel cassettes produced at its Bet Shemesh, Israel, facility. About 4 or 5 fuel cassette exchanges took place during the course of the testing in 2001.

The first on-road demonstration drives of the bus took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November 2001. An on-road demonstration will take place in Washington DC in March 2002. Following those drives, the bus is to be further upgraded by the integration of ultracapacitors in the electric drivetrain, which is intended to improve performance, efficiency and cost of operation.

Phase I
The Zinc-Air Electric Transit Bus Program was initiated in late 1998 to demonstrate the ability of Electric Fuel's patented zinc-air fuel cell system to power a full-size, all-electric transit bus, providing a full day's range including airconditioning for heavy-duty city and suburban routes, under all weather conditions. The Program has a number of strategic partners, utilizing a strong network of resources throughout the US.

The bus used in the program is a standard 40-foot (12.2 meter) transit bus manufactured by NovaBus Corporation (a subsidiary of Volvo). It has a capacity of 40 seated and 37 standing passengers and a gross vehicle weight of 39,500 lbs. (17,955 kg.). The bus utilizes a new all-electric, battery/battery hybrid propulsion system developed with funding from the Israeli-U.S. Bi-national Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation. The all-electric hybrid system consists of a main power source, an Electric Fuel zinc-air battery, and an auxiliary power source, which in Phase I consisted of an auxiliary battery. The vehicle draws cruising energy from the zinc-air battery, and draws supplementary power for acceleration, merging into traffic and hill climbing from the auxiliary power source, which in Phase II will incorporate ultracapacitors. The bus will be operated and maintained by the Community College of Southern Nevada as part of its automotive technology and alternative fuels curriculum. The Center for Sustainable Technology (CST), founded by the Electric Power Research Institute and Bechtel National Inc., and the Regional Transportation Commission of Clark County Nevada are also partners in the program.

The US Department of Transportation allocated $2 million in federal funding for this zinc-air Electric Transit Bus Program. The money came from the Federal Transit Administration's R&D 1998 budget.

At the conclusion of Phase I in July 2000, Electric Fuel announced that it had successfully completed the first actual driving tests of the bus.