Proterra, based in Greenville, SC won a California Energy Commission $3 million grant to design, develop and construct an EV bus manufacturing line in California.
Total cost of the project is $8,411,352 and Proterra is expected to launch the assembly line in the fourth quarter of 2015.
"The proposed facility, to be located in the San Gabriel Valley, is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2015 and will create more than 70 new local jobs. During the grant term, Proterra plans to manufacture an estimated 424 buses, resulting in a reduction of 900M lbs of CO2 over the lifetime of those vehicles. Proterra was the only bus provider selected for CEC funding and today also announced that existing customer Foothill Transit in L.A. County has placed another order for additional Proterra buses to meet increased demand from its ridership base."
The facility will be located in the San Gabriel Valley, where one of Proterra's largest customers, Foothill Transit, ordered an additional 13 electric buses. In total, Foothill Transit will have 30 EVs (nearly 10% of the fleet) in 2016.
"Proterra selected the San Gabriel Valley as an optimal location to serve existing and future transit customers throughout California. The manufacturing facility will benefit economically distressed communities throughout the San Gabriel Valley—providing good living-wage jobs in southern California's emerging center of high-tech manufacturing. Ultimately, implementing the California Zero-Emission Public Transit Bus Manufacturing Project will help further lower production costs, reduce the upfront cost of zero- emission buses and provide a strong spark to accelerate widespread deployment and adoption. The project will accelerate private investment in California, bringing in $5,411,352 in private investment to match the $3,000,000 Energy Commission investment, for a total project budget of $8,411,352."
GO-Biz director Kish Rajan said:
"California continues to be a dynamic center for innovation and business opportunities due in part to advanced transportation manufacturers like Proterra. Furthermore, innovations like Proterra's zero-emission transit buses support the state's goal of achieving 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on California's roadways by 2025."
Commissioner Janea A. Scott of the California Energy Commission commented:
"We're pleased to welcome American bus manufacturer, Proterra, to City of Industry and expect their new facility will spur both state and local investment, create new jobs, and potentially reduce bus maintenance and operation costs. Zero-emission transit is a key element of the state's policies and programs for deploying advanced transportation technologies to help address climate change, improve our clean air, and reach our petroleum reduction goals."
Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra remarked:
"For decades, California has been a consistent leader on policy for the advanced transportation technologies that are now ushering the second wave of adoption for zero-emission transit options like ours. We applaud the California Energy Commission for its continued leadership and look forward to joining California's growing base of advanced transportation leaders."
