Motor Coach Industries (MCI) installed its first heavy-duty vehicle charger at its San Francisco Bay Area MCI Service Center in Hayward, Calif. The installation comes as MCI prepares to roll out its first battery-electric vehicle in the coming months.
The MCI says its Service Center in Hayward serves some of the biggest public and private motor coach markets in the country and is the kickoff point for MCI's move into all-electric vehicles. The MCI J4500e CHARGE will bring zero emissions capability to the market, with deliveries planned later in 2020. And in 2021, MCI will begin deliveries of the battery electric D45 CRTe LE CHARGE, featuring the LE (Low Entry) vestibule with a seating area and ramp that improves dwell times and the boarding and rider experience.
In Hayward, MCI is also unveiling its very first ABB HVC (high voltage charger). It's an 150c e-bus charger with depot box converting 480 Volts AC (3-phase) fed from the service center to the charger, which converts it to 200 amps DC for either hybrid or electrical buses based on the CCS Charging Standard. The station is expected to be fully operational by June.
MCI says it plans to make its battery-electric J4500e first full production model available for demonstrations at the same time to the many companies running employee shuttles in the San Francisco Bay Area ‒as many already use J4500 clean-diesel powered coaches daily.
MCI and the highway to electric
MCI's battery electric platform includes electric-driven components throughout, from electric heat and AC systems to power steering. It features a high-torque Siemens electric drive train and energy storage system (ESS) based on the 63 Ah lithium ion (NMC) ultra-high energy cell by XALT for an estimated 544 kWh of on-board energy for the J4500e, with recharging in under four hours, and 388.5 kWh for the D45 CRTe LE, enabling high-power plug-in battery recharging in under three hours. The J4500e has a range of more than 200 miles, with regenerative braking for energy efficiency and solid stopping power in field tests.
MCI's all-electric move is also supported by sister company's New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions, ™ a full suite of services that help plan deployment of fast-charging stations by route specifications to meet each customer's need.
