Electric Vehicle Maintenance Best Practices

Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA) was established in 1979 and currently serves 13 cities and 39 unincorporated communities throughout Fresno County, California, which has a population of about 400,000.  Of their 122 vehicles, 46 (over 1/3) are electric.  They began their transition to electric vehicles in 2016 and were one of the trailblazers adopting the new technology when California mandated the transition to all-electric transit statewide by 2040.  They chose to purchase their vehicles from different manufacturers based on agency services provided – their passenger fleet currently contains 18 Chevy Bolts, 6 electric vans, and a number of electric 30-foot, 35-foot, and 40-foot buses.

While FCRTA General Manager Moses Stites feels that electric vehicles generally should not require a lot of maintenance, he knew that there would be both preparation challenges and unforeseen events during and after the transition. FCRTA worked closely with both the vehicle manufacturers and the electric utility company to maximize productivity and minimize disruption. Examples include obtaining preauthorization from the manufacturer to install a charging station (this requires an on-site visit), proactive planning with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company about the possibility of wildfires, and working with one of the vehicle manufacturers for replacement batteries when the initial batteries were recalled due to safety issues. Plug-and-play circuits may also become outdated and need to be recalled; transit management should advocate for manufacturer recalls as vendors do not automatically issue them. Transit agencies need to plan for emergency shut-offs of electricity. Even basic matters like taking a vehicle to a collision repair shop following a crash can be complicated by the presence of a battery with a risk of fire.

FCRTA relied on experts from the bus manufacturers to train their maintenance staff. The trainers came on-site for five days and provide ongoing technical assistance, including returning for onsite visits during the warranty period. Stites notes that “some vendors are better than others” in terms of training and support.

The agency received grant funding and is using local Measure C funds to build an operations and maintenance facility that will contain new and innovative solar microgrid charging infrastructure. They worked with affordable housing organizations to study solutions like parking lots with solar panels on carports with self-generating battery backups to see how these technologies can potentially be applied to transit. They are also installing inductive chargers at the new maintenance facility to charge their buses which use pads and do not require plugs.

FCRTA was also awarded a grant to conduct an Electrical Grid Analysis Study from Caltrans, the State Department of Transportation (DOT), in rural Fresno County.  They published their Electrical Grid Analysis Study that identified the impacts of the anticipated increased electrification on the electric grid system and the unique challenges faced by rural communities serviced by FCRTA.  Some of their routes are over 50 miles one-way, which will be challenging in terms of the grid, but the study will provide a roadmap for how charging infrastructure can be leveraged.

Stites uses the popular term “range anxiety” and empowers those responsible for the electric vehicles to become “EV Doctors” and minimize this preventable fear in his team.  For example, he advises drivers to charge at half-range and never go below a quarter-charge. “While it’s not an easy transition, you learn as you go along,” says Stites “and with proactive planning, you can put the savings gained from switching to electric vehicles back into operations, which is a win-win for all.”

Mountain Rides Transportation Authority (MRTA), based in Sun Valley, Idaho, is a small rural 5311 (FTA Formula Grants for Rural Areas) recipient with a big ridership – providing about 500,000 rides per year.  Mountain Rides operates under a joint powers agreement between four cities and Blaine County.  It provides free public transit bus, commuter bus, and vanpool service, non-emergency medical transportation, demand-response service, and tourist-oriented fixed route service.  Of the 24 heavy-duty buses, Mountain Rides owns four electric vehicles, which were delivered in June 2021.  The agency has ordered 7 more, will own 16 by 2025, and plans to be emissions-free by 2027. 

Mountain Rides started preparing for electric bus maintenance even before they purchased the vehicles, which helped contribute to their smooth rollout.  MRTA leadership led a change management process to inform all staff of the change that was coming.  The agency purchased New Flyer vehicles and established an excellent ongoing relationship with the manufacturer.  The manufacturer sent trainers to the facility to train Carlos Tellez, Manager, Maintenance & Facilities, and his staff of five for a full week of half-day sessions.  Maintenance staff, mechanics, and drivers were trained on the actual buses.  The agency also plans to hire a mechanic that specializes in electric vehicles. Jamie Canfield, Director of Transit Operations, monitors driver performance on a daily basis using reports from New Flyer to give near real-time feedback to operators on their performance with the regeneration and overall performance of the buses.

The Transit Workforce Center (TWC) contributed this case study.  SporTran is the transit agency for Shreveport, a city in northern Louisiana. In 2017, having secured funding through the FTA Low or No-Emission Vehicle Deployment Grant program, SporTran embarked on a procurement process to add five BEBs to its existing fleet of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.  The agency attributes its successful transition to a number of factors, including learning lessons from problems with their earlier purchase of CNG buses; documenting every stage of the process and all maintenance issues; and, based on those lessons, moving through this transition process in close collaboration with ATU Local 558 and the ZEB vendor.  Representatives of labor and management, including ATU Local 558 VP Damarcus Roberson, and SporTran General Manager Dinero Washington, attest to the effectiveness of these strategies in ensuring frontline worker engagement in the procurement and training processes.

The frontline union workers with expertise in bus operations and maintenance, along with their management counterparts, were involved from the very beginning of the process.  Their participation in initial focus group meetings with the vendor, Proterra, ensured that important questions were asked and answered, and critical elements were included in the final procurement agreement. Based on the procurement agreement, Proterra provided a technician onsite and training and assistance throughout the two-year warranty period to work with SporTran technicians on a range of areas, including troubleshooting issues specific to BEBs. 

Safety constituted a critical aspect of the early discussions and training.  In addition to labor and management safety experts, SporTran brought in the local utility and fire department to ensure they were aware of the transition and to work together on high-voltage safety issues.  SporTran employees, members of ATU Local 558, currently maintain the BEBs on the property and maintain the charging equipment.  Due to the additional electrical/electronic skills required to work with the new fleet, the agency is working with a local community college on basic electrical and electronics courses for their technicians. 

Washington, SporTran’s General Manager, emphasizes that a collective effort was central to their ZEB transition.  This transition worked, he notes, because everyone worked together.