ACE Parking’s San Diego International Airport fleet of ZEV4 and ZEV5 shuttle buses has travelled more than one million all-electric, zero-emission miles.

Lightning eMotors delivered 16 Class 4 ZEV4 and 8 Class 5 ZEV5 electric shuttle buses to ACE Parking in 2020. Since deployment, the fleet has transported more than 1.5 million passengers over one million miles and mitigated over 1,050 tons of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere, the manufacturer said.

The San Diego fleet is supported by Lightning Insight, an EV-specific telematics service that monitors vehicle location, efficiency, charge status, and more, in real time. The ZEV4 and ZEV5 zero-emission shuttle buses have averaged 41.1 and 34.4 MPGe (miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent) respectively, making them more than five times more efficient than comparable gasoline shuttles such as the Ford E-450 with 7.3mpg and the Ford F-550 with 5.9mpg, according to Lightning.

Loveland, Colorado-based Lightning is now delivering the third generation of its ZEV4 shuttle bus with additional benefits, such as the batteries fully contained between the frame rails, redundant parking brake, push button shifting and more.

The ACE Parking vehicles participated in the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Hybrid and Zero Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP).

HVIP provides point-of-sale discounts to organisations and companies for the purchase of low- or zero-emission commercial fleet vehicles. To date, programme funding has helped more than 11,000 clean vehicles begin operation across the state, speeding up California’s electric transition, cutting emissions and improving air quality.

Image: Lightning eMotors