The city of Mountain View, California has put four electric shuttle buses on the road in a two-year pilot project funded by Google. The Mountain View Community Shuttles use a modular electric powertrain from Motiv Power Systems.

Aimed at elderly residents and others who need an alternative to the city’s existing public transit, the service is free to the public. Each of the four electric shuttles seats 16 passengers and is equipped with a wheelchair lift, space for two wheelchairs, WiFi connectivity and bicycle racks.

Motiv’s electric Powertrain Control System (ePCS) enables the electrification of a truck or bus chassis as a ship-though option, using a variety of commercially-available battery packs and motors.

The vehicle consists of an Ameritrans 285 shuttle bus body on a Ford E450 chassis  with the Motiv ePCS and FIAMM batteries. The ship-through modification process, common in the truck and bus industry, allows for minimal changes between the fossil fuel and electric versions of the vehicle.

“With these four buses, thousands of residents will get to experience firsthand what an electric bus can offer,” said Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz. “These buses demonstrate we don’t need to design new vehicles from the ground up to break their reliance on fossil fuel and offer zero-emission vehicle options.”

Source: Motiv Power Systems