Mayor Madeline Rogero, members of City Council, and Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) staff took a ride on an all-electric bus on Tuesday, December 12, 2017. 

KAT brought this electric vehicle example to Knoxville in anticipation of beginning the process of adding electric buses to the fleet in the coming 18 to 24 months, and long-term plans include using fully electric vehicles along the Broadway corridor in conjunction with the Accelerated Bus Corridor (ABC) project, expected for implementation in three to four years.

“All electric buses tend to be much quieter than a typical bus, and the cost to run them – electricity versus diesel fuel – is typically much lower,” says Si McMurray, Chief Maintenance Officer for KAT.  “The current buses in the fleet, which are either electric hybrids or clean diesel technology, are remarkably low in emissions, but these fully electric buses are essentially zero emissions when they’re on the street.”

“Vehicles such as this one help further the City of Knoxville’s goals for sustainability,” says Dawn Distler, Director of Transit for the City of Knoxville.