RIVERSIDE, CA – Complete Coach Works (CCW), a leading provider of transit and sustainable transportation solutions, is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract for the refurbishment of two 2008 40-ft Gillig buses by Eagle County Transit (ECO).
Eagle County Transit, committed to enhancing its transit services, has chosen CCW as its trusted partner for the revitalization of these key assets. The project aligns with ECO’s vision to provide passengers with an improved and sustainable transit experience.
Under this contract, CCW will leverage its expertise to refurbish the buses, ensuring they meet contemporary standards for performance and passenger comfort. The buses will undergo a comprehensive transformation, featuring remanufactured Cummins ISM ReCon engines and Allison transmissions to enhance reliability and efficiency.
Notable enhancements include the installation of new driver seats, reupholstered passenger seating, and upgraded flooring to elevate the overall comfort and aesthetics of the buses. The integration of modern LED lighting both inside and outside the buses further contributes to a safer and more energy-efficient transit environment.
“We are honored to have been selected by Eagle County Transit for this refurbishment project,” said Shawn Remtulla, Regional Sales Manager for the Southwest Region at Complete Coach Works. “This contract underscores our commitment to delivering high-quality solutions that prioritize passenger safety, comfort, and environmental sustainability.”
This collaboration reflects CCW’s dedication to advancing transit solutions that address the evolving needs of communities. The revitalized buses are expected to contribute not only to the efficiency of Eagle County Transit’s operations, but also to the overall satisfaction of passengers relying on their services.
Can you say a little more about infrastructure construction? Is it just upgrading vehicles or do you contribute to cables, roads, etc.?
CCW focuses on vehicle upgrades for electrification but does not specialize in infrastructure development for charging station installation. We can certainly put you in touch with various charging station companies who might assist with the infrastructure side of installation.
How does new CARB emission regulations impact ability to lease buses in California?
SBL and TSI have a large variety of current California compliant buses including CNG, Hybrid and Hydrogen. These vehicles are available for both lease and sale.
What kind of vehicle or operational surprises have the fleet operators discovered after adopting BEVs in their fleets?
The primary issues experienced by fleet operators that have adopted BEVs in their fleets include range, charging time, needed route adjustments and parts pricing. Range has traditionally been problematic as the range of a BEV is highly variable with load, ambient temperature, weather, state of charge (SOC), etc. With reduced range vs diesel buses, charging needs to occur both during the day as well as overnight. This places strain on existing route systems that weren’t designed for these charging opportunities in mind. Further, although maintenance costs are reduced with BEVs vs diesel buses (when parts are needed such as motors, batteries, etc.) they tend to be very expensive to replace.
What kind of mix have you seen between drivetrain-only vs full re-furb builds?
CCW normally does a 50/50 split when looking at fleet overhauls. Half repower and half midlife refurbs.
Does CCW offer mobile charging solutions to fill the gap with infrastructure deployment lead times?
Currently, CCW does not offer a mobile charging solution for electric vehicles, however we have worked closely with our past customers to integrate electric buses into their fleet and have experience overcoming many challenging situations.
Have you seen any traction on state or federal credit vouchers for re-power upgrades?
There are many funding opportunities available at both the state and federal levels. Virtually all funding accrues to the operator vs entities such as CCW which are either the OEM or upfitter. FTA Lo-No grants are a popular avenue for funding zero emission buses. The California HVIP voucher program is another popular avenue at the state level where CCW is in process of having our ZEPS product qualify for this voucher program.
What does CCW’s national footprint look like to support your products customer deploy?
CCW operates nationwide from a product standpoint and where customer support is needed at specific customers, we can design customized solutions such as having staff on site for a fixed period of time to support the deployment of equipment from CCW. Alternatively, we would support our product from our headquarters in Riverside, CA and deploy regional field service staff as needed similar to other vehicle OEMs.
How closely does the ZEPs re-power drivetrain compare to OEM BEVs for energy efficiency, range, and other performance parameters?
Our ZEPS drive system has been tested in several head-to-head route tests and are always equally comparable and in a little over half the tests ZEPS is a more efficient drive system.
Does CCW foresee expanding the ZEPs re-powering into other work vehicles (school buses, class 6-8 delivery/box trucks, drayage/port hostlers, etc.)?
Our focus for the ZEPS product has been and will continue to be transit buses. Given the amount of development and engineering costs we are not currently focused on adapting the ZEPS product to other vehicles.
With CCW’s 10+ years’ experience with battery electric buses, have you started to see second life opportunities for batteries? If so, what does that look like?
Yes, there are a lot of opportunities for second life on batteries that have slightly diminished energy capacity as long as they are handled right and treated properly.
What battery voltage do the drivetrain systems operate at? Is it customer specified?
ZEPS current battery system has a nominal voltage of 600DCV.
Can you say a little more about infrastructure construction? Is it just upgrading vehicles or do you contribute to cables, roads, etc.?
CCW focuses on vehicle upgrades for electrification but does not specialize in infrastructure development for charging station installation. We can certainly put you in touch with various charging station companies who might assist with the infrastructure side of installation.
How does new CARB emission regulations impact ability to lease buses in California?
SBL and TSI have a large variety of current California compliant buses including CNG, Hybrid and Hydrogen. These vehicles are available for both lease and sale.
What kind of vehicle or operational surprises have the fleet operators discovered after adopting BEVs in their fleets?
The primary issues experienced by fleet operators that have adopted BEVs in their fleets include range, charging time, needed route adjustments and parts pricing. Range has traditionally been problematic as the range of a BEV is highly variable with load, ambient temperature, weather, state of charge (SOC), etc. With reduced range vs diesel buses, charging needs to occur both during the day as well as overnight. This places strain on existing route systems that weren’t designed for these charging opportunities in mind. Further, although maintenance costs are reduced with BEVs vs diesel buses (when parts are needed such as motors, batteries, etc.) they tend to be very expensive to replace.
What kind of mix have you seen between drivetrain-only vs full re-furb builds?
CCW normally does a 50/50 split when looking at fleet overhauls. Half repower and half midlife refurbs.
Does CCW offer mobile charging solutions to fill the gap with infrastructure deployment lead times?
Currently, CCW does not offer a mobile charging solution for electric vehicles, however we have worked closely with our past customers to integrate electric buses into their fleet and have experience overcoming many challenging situations.
Have you seen any traction on state or federal credit vouchers for re-power upgrades?
There are many funding opportunities available at both the state and federal levels. Virtually all funding accrues to the operator vs entities such as CCW which are either the OEM or upfitter. FTA Lo-No grants are a popular avenue for funding zero emission buses. The California HVIP voucher program is another popular avenue at the state level where CCW is in process of having our ZEPS product qualify for this voucher program.
What does CCW’s national footprint look like to support your products customer deploy?
CCW operates nationwide from a product standpoint and where customer support is needed at specific customers, we can design customized solutions such as having staff on site for a fixed period of time to support the deployment of equipment from CCW. Alternatively, we would support our product from our headquarters in Riverside, CA and deploy regional field service staff as needed similar to other vehicle OEMs.
How closely does the ZEPs re-power drivetrain compare to OEM BEVs for energy efficiency, range, and other performance parameters?
Our ZEPS drive system has been tested in several head-to-head route tests and are always equally comparable and in a little over half the tests ZEPS is a more efficient drive system.
Does CCW foresee expanding the ZEPs re-powering into other work vehicles (school buses, class 6-8 delivery/box trucks, drayage/port hostlers, etc.)?
Our focus for the ZEPS product has been and will continue to be transit buses. Given the amount of development and engineering costs we are not currently focused on adapting the ZEPS product to other vehicles.
With CCW’s 10+ years’ experience with battery electric buses, have you started to see second life opportunities for batteries? If so, what does that look like?
Yes, there are a lot of opportunities for second life on batteries that have slightly diminished energy capacity as long as they are handled right and treated properly.
What battery voltage do the drivetrain systems operate at? Is it customer specified?
ZEPS current battery system has a nominal voltage of 600DCV.
RIVERSIDE, CA – Complete Coach Works (CCW), a leading provider of transit and sustainable transportation solutions is pleased to announce the promotion of James Carson to Western Regional Sales Manager for the company, reporting to Patrick Scully CCW’s Chief Commercial Officer effective October 2, 2023.
“This is a natural progression for James since he started his career at CCW in 2014 and has been involved in learning multiple facets of the business”, said Michael Dominici, CCW’s Chief Financial Officer. “James is well versed in both market and customer dynamics as well as the internal technical workings of the company. We are confident that James will continue to grow professionally and be a positive contributor to the company under Pat’s leadership.”
“I am honored and excited to embark on a new journey being a part of CCW’s Sales Team. I look forward to pursuing and building upon the relationships with our existing customers as well as building new relationships with leaders across the bus industry,” said James Carson.
“I’m excited to have James join the sales team where he will be able to offer fleet transportation solutions to our customers in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii”, said Patrick Scully. “James is well known in the industry and his professionalism and attention to detail will serve our customers well in the coming weeks and months.
Complete Coach Works (CCW) headquartered in Riverside, CA, is the largest bus remanufacturing and rehabilitation company in the United States, with over 34 years in the transportation industry. A pioneer in the field of alternative fuel and hybrid vehicle technology, CCW has always worked to provide clean vehicles through innovative design and engineering, and it unveiled the world’s first remanufactured all-electric, battery-powered bus in 2012. For jobs of any size, CCW’s team of over 350 experts provide cutting-edge products and exceptional customer service.
In 2021, Complete Coach Works, along with Shuttle Bus Leasing, Transit Sales International and D/T Carson Enterprises, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Carson Capital Corp transitioned to an Employee Stock Ownership Corporation.
The Nation’s First 60-Foot Bus Rehabilitation to Battery Electric
Complete Coach Works installs proprietary battery-electric technology in an articulated bus for TriMet (Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon)
RIVERSIDE, CA, January 17, 2022— Complete Coach Works (CCW) breaks new ground in zero-emissions mass transit with the Nation’s first conversion of a 60-foot articulated diesel-powered bus to battery electric for TriMet.
CCW, the leading North American bus remanufacturer, combined the Voith Electrical Drive System (VEDS) with CCW’s own Zero Emission Propulsion System (ZEPS) battery technology to solve the electric conversion challenge in a 60-foot articulated workhorse transit bus.
Since 2012, CCW has converted more than 70, 30-foot, 35-foot, and 40-foot fossil fueled transit buses to battery electric. The company offers 403 kWh and 504 kWh lithium ion NMC battery packs.
CCW is thrilled to now offer customers a 605 kWh lithium ion NMC battery and powertrain solution to support larger and heavier vehicles that will easily haul their significantly higher passenger loads.
60-Foot Breakthrough CCW converted the Nation’s first-ever 2007 60-foot New Flyer diesel-powered articulated transit bus to battery electric. The project included a complete restoration of TriMet’s bus, known as Desert Rose, to like-new condition with the ZEPS 605 kWh lithium ion NMC battery pack and the VEDS powertrain.
“We’ve worked with TriMet in the past converting three 40-foot low floor transit buses to battery-electric, but this was the first time facing a 60-foot articulated bus, which requires more energy storage than any previous conversion,” said Jim Paul, CCW’s Regional Sales Manager. “We’ve proven ourselves again in this accomplishment and thank our partners on the project. The advanced CCW batteries combined with VEDS provides the bus with a significantly longer operating range while maintaining its battery life.”
Keeping high-use, low-floor buses rolling and looking like new Articulated buses not only carry more passengers, but generally provide a lower-floor design that offers greater passenger accessibility. TriMet’s 14-year-old refurbished bus not only features new passenger lightweight seating, flooring, fresh branding and LED exterior and interior lighting, it also provides a new ADA-compliant wheelchair ramp for faster passenger onboarding.
“Our process significantly extends the bus’s service life while providing a much quieter and zero-emission ride for Portland commuters,” said Jim. “The teamwork between CCW, TriMet and Voith not only moves TriMet’s bar higher on achieving its green initiatives, but paves the way for more agencies to adopt rehabbed electric buses as part of their fleets.”
TriMet is the 16th largest public transit agency in the United States and ninth in the nation in ridership per capita. In 2019, it committed to a clean energy fleet by the year 2040 and became the first U.S. transit agency to acquire battery-electric buses with charging stations completely powered by wind energy.
TriMet has begun extensive testing and evaluation of this inaugural 60-foot model on a Portland metro express route where the bus is already proving its reliability according to TriMet.
“TriMet is proud to partner with CCW in our quest to be the leading Transit Agency that leads the renewable energy drive, and Desert Rose has been a shining star — a Giant of a Rose. The performance numbers from this 60-foot articulated bus are unbelievable and we look forward to a continued partnership with CCW,” said Samuel Rumhizha, Director Bus Maintenance.
CCW’s ZEPS battery division, operated with sister company Transit Sales International, has developed the remanufactured all-electric bus by taking existing low-floor transit buses and remanufacturing them into like-new vehicles with their own proprietary all-electric drivetrain systems. Currently, ZEPS buses have logged four million passenger miles across the nation.
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