Detroit advances grant-funded pilot for four battery-electric buses, staff outline charging limits and timeline

The Public Health & Safety Standing Committee on Oct. 6 advanced a grant-funded procurement for four battery-electric buses, associated charging equipment, training and tools and heard operational questions about charging, range and deployment.

DDOT Director Robert Kramer told the committee the contract with New Flyer covers two 40-foot buses and two 60-foot articulated buses, with associated chargers, tools and staff training. Kramer said officials expect delivery "relatively quick, like, definitely by the end of the year" once the contract is awarded and purchase orders are issued, though final delivery windows depend on the supplier schedule.

Kramer described an initial, temporary deployment at Shoemaker Terminal with four lower-powered chargers that require roughly eight hours per full charge; the grant included funds to study and begin work on a higher-powered charging solution for future deployment. He said DDOT will monitor battery performance in Detroit’s four-season climate and treat this as a pilot to study operating patterns, charging needs and route assignments.

Committee members asked for technical specifications, DTE capability to provide the power and details on charger speeds; Kramer said staff would prepare a memo with specifications and follow-up items and indicated there have been studies about in-road inductive charging and pantograph-type fast chargers as longer-term options.

Why it matters: The pilot is a step toward electrifying transit in Detroit. Officials said batteries are sensitive to temperature and charging patterns, so the pilot will test real-world operations before larger deployment decisions are made.

What’s next: The committee moved the item (6.35) to new business with recommendation to approve and asked DDOT to provide detailed technical specs and a memo on charging infrastructure and operational plans.