The Anaheim Transportation Network, the transit agency that runs buses in the city’s resort district, on Friday opened the first-of-its-kind, solar-powered charging facility in the county to power its fleet of battery electric buses and vans.
The charging hub, located east of the 5 Freeway off of South Claudina Street, expands the agency’s ability to charge its electric vehicles as its leaders plan to buy more in the coming years.
“We’re extremely proud of it,” ATN CEO Diana Kotler said.
The 514-kW solar panels at the charging hub will provide about 25% of ATN’s expected energy consumption, according to a news release from the agency. Batteries on site will store power as the panels collect energy throughout the day to charge buses that return to the facility at the end of their shifts.
Jim Appleby, ATN’s director of operations, said the buses drive about 90 miles a day.
“That’s one of the great things about Anaheim for us — our terrain is nice and flat and our weather is great,” Appleby said. “So it makes the best place to do battery electric buses.”
The chargers can determine how much to charge a vehicle depending on the level of service it will provide the following day, Kotler said. They also try to avoid charging at peak hours for electric rates.
ATN has three services: the Anaheim Regional Transportation buses that travel the resort area and connect to area transportation hubs; the Free Rides Around the Neighborhood, or FRAN, mini buses that serve the downtown area; and EVE, or Everyone Ventures Everywhere, shuttles to and from John Wayne Airport to Anaheim.
All three services use electric vehicles and the agency serves more than 9 million riders a year.
Kotler said the electric buses save ATN up to $1 million a year on fuel costs and require far less maintenance.
Before the facility opened, Kotler said it was “musical chairs” to move vehicles around to get them to available chargers.
Transit agencies in California must transition their fleets to be completely zero emission by 2040. More than half of ATN’s bus fleet is now electric.
The charging hub received funding from the California State Transportation Agency, the Anaheim Tourism Improvement District, the California Energy Commission and the Public Utilities Commission.
