December 28, 2015
After the ZEPS bus was delivered in late September, Gardena received a California Energy Commission grant to upgrade four more of its hybrid buses to electric. Gardena selected CCW, once again, to convert the buses to ZEPS in a project expected to begin early next year, said Kevin O’Brien, project manager for CCW.
“Gardena has been very impressed with the new bus,” O’Brien said. “It has been in service every day and they are really happy.”
Switching to the ZEPS drive system entails dismantling the bus down to the chassis, then installing all new mechanical parts as well as new flooring, seating, power steering, HVAC and low rolling resistance tires. The ZEPS engines have a range of about 130 miles and require about five hours to recharge the batteries.
“The bus is great,” said Anthony Cohen, Facility and Maintenance Manager for GTrans, “The only problem may be convincing the driver to give other operators a turn behind the wheel of the electric bus,” he said with a laugh. “The driver won’t give it up, she loves it!”
Gardena Municipal Bus Lines may be the only transportation agency in California operating with all gasoline/electric hybrid buses. “Certainly we’re one of the few and we are evaluating if the fleet should go all electric,” Cohen said.
The ZEPS conversion is just one of several projects GTrans has collaborated on with CCW. “I’ve always had a great relationship with them,” Cohen said. “I have the highest regard for CCW.”
Complete Coach Works (CCW) is the largest U.S. bus remanufacturing and rehabilitation company and the leading provider of a vast array of transportation solutions with over 28 years of dedicated service in the transportation industry. CCW is a pioneer in the business and strives to continually provide cleaner air through innovative design and engineering, resulting in the world’s first and only remanufactured all-electric battery powered bus. Developed and integrated by CCW, the Zero Emission Propulsion System (ZEPS) technology provides customers a highly cost effective alternative to green transportation, potentially revolutionizing the transportation industry while supporting the environment for future generations. Regardless of how small or large the job, CCW provides an exceptionally experienced team of over 350 experts, committed to customer service and satisfaction
Gardena Municipal Bus Lines (GTrans) operates a fleet of about 60 gasoline hybrid buses and other smaller vehicles to provide fixed route and demand response services that connect customers to destinations within the city and in neighboring South Bay communities. GTrans, which provides 9,574 rides a day, also links to the Los Angeles regional transit system, including Metro rail and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus system.
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