Tag Archives: Proterra

Proterra Electric Buses Get Enormous Boost From Daimler Investment Of $155 Million

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Yesterday will be remembered as a day when the United States got serious about transforming its aging fleet of buses from diesel-using dinosaurs into sleek new electric vehicles.

That’s when Proterra, a heavy duty electric transportation provider for the North American mass transit market, announced that it has closed a $155 million investment round co-led by Daimler, the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles.

In conjunction with the investment, Proterra and Daimler have entered into an agreement to explore the electrification of select Daimler heavy-duty vehicles, the first of which will be Damiler’s Thomas Built Buses for the school market, which Proterra believes is the next frontier for zero-emission, commercial fleets.

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With predictable routes per day, school buses are right in Proterra’s wheelhouse – and they expect to compete with Blue Bird (currently the only company serving the school bus market with electric vehicles, as we reported on earlier this year) in short order. What is also really cool is that energy demand for the fleets would be dense and off-peak, thereby reshaping the Duck Curve once again.

This announcement represents a significant milestone in the commercialization of heavy-duty electric vehicles as both manufacturers work to bring zero-emission technology to an expanded set of vehicle segments. With a history and legacy that dates back nearly 150 years, Daimler will be able to provide Proterra with relevant experience in manufacturing commercial vehicles at scale, while Proterra will leverage its proven experience in battery-electric mass transit and provide access to its industry-leading electric vehicle technology.

“We are excited to collaborate with Daimler, and we appreciate their investment and support,” said Ryan Popple, Proterra CEO. “Daimler is a global leader in vehicles that serve almost every category and market. Over the past year, we’ve gained a great deal of respect for the engineering prowess, operational expertise, and environmental stewardship of the Daimler team. We also appreciate the continued support of our existing investors who share our vision of clean, quiet transportation for all.”

If we had to bet, we’d bet on Popple and his Proterra team. After all, as Managing Editor Yann Brandt explored with Popple in this podcast, he has an aggressive goal for the electrification of the heavy-duty trucking and bus markets – and is working hard to meet it. This partnership with Daimler moves that goal ever closer.

Proterra CEO Predicts EV Adoption Timeline

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: In this edition of the SolarWakeup Live! podcast, Yann Brandt sat down with Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra, an electric vehicle manufacturer currently focused on building buses and driving and discussed:

  • why China is so far ahead of the United States in EV development,
  • how Tesla made it from being a small startup to the electric vehicle behemoth it is today (Popple was present at the creation), and
  • how soon will there be an EV in every driveway (OK, that last one’s made up, but they do talk about how quickly mass-transit EVs will be adopted)

SolarWakeup’s View:  I will never tire of listening to energy visionaries describe the future in terms that I, with my limited understanding of my day-to-day life let alone the FUTURE, haven’t even conceived of yet. And so I listened with great interest to Managing Editor Yann Brandt’s podcast interview with Ryan Popple from Proterra, an electric vehicle (EV) company dedicated to putting electric, mass transit buses in all U.S. cities in the near future. 

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The whole interview is worth listening to, but as you can see from the bullets above, three things really captured my imagination:

First, Popple talks about what it was like to be present at the creation (or at least the early years) at Tesla. What I was most interested in, honestly, was his contention that you don’t necessarily have to have the best technology when you first start a business as long as you have the top intellectual talent throughout the company to get you there eventually.

It’s a sentiment Popple shares with Jim Collins, former Stanford Business School professor and best-selling author of the book Good to Great: Put the best people you can hire in key positions first; then the products will follow.

Second, Popple talks about why China is so far ahead of the United States in EV development. His explanation will be obvious to anyone who ever sat in their college dorms at 2 a.m. discussing the merits of communism vs capitalism and coming to the conclusion that ultimately, capitalism wins – eventually.

Third, Yann asks Popple when he thinks EV development, at least on the mass transit front that Proterra serves, will hit 50% of all the purchases of those types of vehicles. Your jaw may well drop when you hear his answer (I know mine did).

Oh, and he has a prediction of what long-haul trucking will look like in 20 years that will blow your mind.

More:

 

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Proterra