{"id":32353,"date":"2016-09-30T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T19:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/?p=32353"},"modified":"2026-04-11T23:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:52:09","slug":"proterra-electric-bus-battery-service-agreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatepolicyinitiative.org\/id\/proterra-electric-bus-battery-service-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"Proterra Electric Bus Battery Service Agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2017 Fire Awards Winner<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Champion<\/strong>
Alan Westenskow, Director of Businesses Development, Proterra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About<\/strong>
Bus fleet operators predominantly use diesel vehicles. Zero-emission vehicles offer a clean, quiet alternative with lower operating costs. However, zero-emissions vehicles currently cost 50% more than conventional counterparts and there are perceived technology risks of batteries and the cost of future battery replacements. These barriers obstruct uptake of a cleaner and more efficient disruptive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proterra\u2019s electric bus battery service agreements are an initiative led by Proterra to transfer up-front costs and technology risk from the customer. This can remove barriers to uptake and enable wider commercialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barriers Addressed<\/strong>
\u2022 High upfront costs of electric buses vs diesel buses
\u2022 Perceived technology risks of batteries
\u2022 Unknown future costs of replacement batteries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approach<\/strong>
Proterra offers to sell the customer a battery electric bus for the cost of a conventional diesel bus (around $500,000) and to enter into a battery service agreement for 12 years to pay for the use of batteries that Proterra owns and guarantees to provide an agreed upon performance level. This agreement converts a capital cost to an operating cost, which can be paid using operating savings from the cheaper to operate electric bus. Further, the agreement provides a warranty on the batteries and hedges customers against future replacement battery costs. As a result, the customer is expected to have a cost breakeven point on day one compared to conventional diesel buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNEF On-Stage Pitch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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