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±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ was chosen as the engineering, procurement, and construction partner for this fleet depot electrification project for eTransEnergy, a Duke Energy Company, and the Charlotte Area Transit System. The project included the design and construction of infrastructure for 20 buses across two depot locations as a first phase of a 300-bus electrification program. The chargers for this project were 150kW units supplied by Siemens (at the S Tryon Depot) and ABB (at the N Davidson Depot).

This project was part of the city of Charlotte’s Strategic Energy Action Plan that aims to shift to a 100% zero-carbon energy in municipal buildings and vehicles by 2030 and become a “low-carbon� city by 2050. The project also supported the city’s equity goals as the electric buses run first on routes of the “Corridors of Opportunity� in the under-invested areas of west, north, and east Charlotte where the highest pollution rates are experienced.

To further support its equity aspirations, the city of Charlotte set a goal of 5% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) utilization on the project. At completion, ±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ had achieved 10% DBE utilization, doubling this important metric.

The Charlotte Area Transit Fleet EV Pilot project had many stakeholders: fleet operations, public personnel, facilities, and budget/capital management. To ensure successful operations, ±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ developed a true quorum between all affected parties. The team ensured collaboration early on by holding frequent meetings during preconstruction to gather consensus and align on project goals. In doing so, ±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ was able to incorporate asks up-front, help all entities understand how the infrastructure and future operations would look and function, and communicate any disruption or behavioral changes that would take place.

Moving from a combustion-based fleet operation to charging is a complex undertaking, and the ±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ team strived to make the process seamless and understandable. As the designer, ±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ built a purposeful facility around the customer’s vision and ensured clear and constant communication from start to finish. At the close of the project, ±ØÍþÌåÓý¹Ù·½APPÏÂÔØ provided thorough training to provide personnel understanding of how to operate equipment.

Construction of the project began in September 2021, and both facilities are operational with the S Tryon facility being commissioned in December 2021 and the N Davidson facility being commissioned in January 2022.