The idea of being stuck on a bus for 1,100 miles doesn’t sound that great, but it’s a little better when it picks up a world record in the process.
The Proterra Catalyst E2, an all-electric bus, set a new world record for the longest distance driven by an electric vehicle on a single charge. It went 1,101.2 miles before giving up the ghost, which is awfully impressive, considering most people assume heavier-duty EVs like these have limited ranges.
In order to achieve this range, the Catalyst E2 has a whole bunch of batteries — 660 kWh, to be precise, more than six times the capacity of Tesla’s longest-range vehicle. In the past, Proterra drove 258 miles with 257 kWh of battery capacity, followed by 603 miles with 440 kWh.
The previous record-holder was a light-duty passenger car, and it managed to go 1,013.76 miles, itself an impressive feat. I wouldn’t expect Proterra’s EV buses to travel that distance during regular urban use, but at even a fraction of that distance, it should still be enough for a day’s worth of work in a major city.
At least it was a quiet bus ride, if a little long.
Proterra