With the US having 4.24 bus fires occuring per day having 1 electric bus out of the thousands in use across the country, check California, in it not an occurance outside the average: According to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), there are an average of 4.24 bus fires in the US each day. As with any risk there are always efforts to mitigate the risk. The focus for fire suppression on buses has long been the engine area. Studies by the NFPA show that nearly 70% of bus fires are attributed to the engine, running gear or tyres and that 83% are a result of mechanical or electrical failures. These percentages are also supported by a Swedish study which found 61% of fires originate in the engine area.
In addition to just ‘traction motors’…transportation vehicles need
a/c and heating systems with dozens of passengers entering and exiting the bus continually. Doors open a lot. Heat load for 30-50 passengers. Gotta work at 115F in Phoenix as well as 30 below in Minnesota, too. Humidity control in FL along with A/C. Each person is like a 100-150 watt incandescent light bulb as far as heat output.
Power steering and power brakes. Hydraulics? Hydraulic fluid?
Lighting - maybe hours and hours a day inside in darker climes like MN in the winter time.
Plus of course headlights and tail lights.
It’s going to be interesting.
Likely a good portion of existing bus fires are from the auxiliary systems for a/c, hydraulic brakes, power steering, etc - all more failure points. Not sure that will change for EV buses.
Here are some of the newest numbers for public transit systems and electric buses (does not include school buses): Still, having so many electric buses is not common for a transit agency. According to the 2020 National Transit Database, the most recent report from the federal government, there are 1,268 electric buses actively operating at transit agencies across the U.S. — out of 63,530 total buses.
San Francisco County has clean air and now clean buses - much more than Los Angeles County which needs them. I used to hate being near a SF bus stop with diesel smoke exhaust in the 1970-1990 time period.