Cherriots: 22 electric buses running, Keizer chargers still failing
All 22 of Cherriots' battery electric buses are now in revenue service in Salem and Keizer, and the newest 12 are beating expectations. But the wireless chargers at Keizer Transit Center that were supposed to keep the first electric buses running all day have largely stopped working, according to a staff update prepared for the transit district's board.
The update, a memo from Chief Operations Officer Tom Dietz sent through Interim General Manager David Trimble plus a slide presentation, is in the agenda packet for the Cherriots Board of Directors' Oct. 8 work session. It describes the district as entering its third year of operating battery electric buses, or BEBs.
The memo says the presentation "is not to offer a negative perspective" and is instead "intended to present a realistic view of owning and operating these vehicles." It adds: "There is no shortage of lessons learned and that is what this presentation will show."
How the fleet got to 22
According to the slides, Cherriots won back-to-back federal Low or No Emission (Lo/No) awards in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 for a total of 10 electric buses. A Congressional Directed Spending grant paid for five more, a fiscal 2023 Lo/No award added five, and a fiscal 2023 grant through SKATS, the Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Study, added two.
The first electric buses entered revenue service in September 2024 on the district's electric corridor along Lancaster Drive. Cherriots' Zero Emissions Corridor page describes that corridor as Route 11, which runs about 12 miles from Keizer Transit Center to the southeast corner of Salem.
A status slide sums up where things stand: all 22 BEBs are "commissioned and performing revenue service," "Electric Avenue is fully complete and functional," and "KTC is challenging - Inductive charging is failing."
The first 10 buses: range and charging trouble
The first group, the 2300 series (buses 2370 through 2379), are 40-foot Gillig buses listed at 444 kW across six battery packs. Their nameplate range is 195 miles, but the slides put actual range at 90 to 105 miles.
Those buses were designed to top up between trips using inductive charging at Keizer Transit Center, which Cherriots' KTC charging page compares to a phone's wireless charging pad. Three bays there, E, F and G, each have four 75 kW coils that can deliver up to 300 kW. Each bus carries four vehicle acquisition pads that pick up the charge. The slides say construction at KTC was completed in December 2023 and the system was commissioned in late March 2024.
The presentation says initial testing "showed promise," but coil overheating became a challenge, internal cabinet failures were "nearly constant" and the bus-mounted pads began to fail. Nearly 24 months into service, the slides list these problems for the 2300 series:
13 battery packs already replaced, six of them on bus 2371 alone.
33 of 40 vehicle acquisition pads inoperable.
Each of the charging bays at KTC has been inoperable.
InductEV, the charging vendor, restructured, and Electreon purchased InductEV.
Cherriots had to re-block Route 11 and add deadhead trips, which are trips that run without passengers.
Cold weather was also a factor. The slides say "range anxiety became a reality" in cold weather, that the buses' state of charge was affected by battery conditioning when they pulled out for service, and that performance dropped with temperatures. As a result, the district made regular use of its CNG and diesel buses in revenue service, according to the presentation.
The slides also list power use under the district's Portland General Electric Fleet Partner Program consumption commitment: 105,062 in year one, 228,802 in year two and 39,866 so far in year three. The slides label those figures in kW.
Repair costs for the 2300 series climbed after non-warranty repairs began in 2025, according to the packet. Its tables list $2,049.77 in repairs for 2024, $73,135.21 for 2025 and $30,268.47 for 2026.
The newer 12: "exceeded projections"
The second group, the 2600 series (buses 2670 through 2681), has gone much more smoothly. These 40-foot Gillig buses are listed at 686 kW across seven battery packs, with a nameplate range of 300 miles and an actual range of about 205 miles. The memo says the second wave entered revenue service in early 2026, and the slides list a revenue service date of June 8, 2026.
According to the slides, performance on the 2600 series "has exceeded projections," charging at the Del Webb Operations Headquarters has had no issues, and the buses have been able to "deliver service without interruption." The packet lists 80,344 miles driven on the series in 2026, with $1,221.46 in repairs.
The memo says the 12 new buses "have been performing beyond expectations on nearly every level." It also notes some common issues with the new buses, "however, not to the level or frequency of the 2023 BEBs."
One caveat appears on the slides themselves: the 2600 series has had "no cold weather driving to date."
Depot charging at Del Webb has been the steady part of the program. The memo says "the depot charging has been operating flawlessly while the inductive charging has not stabilized to date."
What it costs per mile
The packet includes a side-by-side comparison of cost per mile by fleet type. The tables track fuel or electricity and repair costs. They do not list bus purchase prices or explain in detail how the total cost of ownership (TCO) figures are calculated.
2300 series electric: $0.21 per mile in 2024, $0.33 in 2025 and $0.22 in 2026.
2600 series electric: $0.23 per mile in 2026.
1900 series natural gas: $0.65 in 2024, $0.73 in 2025 and $0.85 in 2026.
2200 series natural gas: $0.60 in 2024, $0.70 in 2025 and $0.77 in 2026.
Diesel buses running R99 fuel: $1.48 in 2024, $1.68 in 2025 and $1.40 in 2026.
By those figures, both electric series cost far less per mile to run than the district's natural gas and diesel buses, even with the battery and charger problems on the older buses.
What staff recommend next
The presentation lists areas of focus going forward, including resilience in a large-scale event, availability of fuel, parts and technicians, the cost of replacement parts such as battery packs and motors, operator training and safety, cost control through standardized inventory, vehicle replacement plans and production lead times, funding, partner agencies and future technology.
Its recommendation has three parts:
Mitigate ongoing BEB challenges.
Continue regular meetings with vendors Gillig, Cummins and InductEV/Electreon.
Put renewed focus on fleet diversification, breaking the fleet into thirds: renewable natural gas, battery electric and diesel running R99.
The presentation closes with reminders that Cherriots continues to remove single-occupant vehicles from the road, that its BEBs are "carbon negative," its RNG buses are "carbon neutral" and its diesels run "carbon negligent" on R99. The slides say the diesels no longer "billow black smoke."
The Oct. 8 work session was set for 5:30 p.m. in the Senator Hearing Room at 555 Court Street NE in Salem, with a ZoomGov option. The BEB update was a discussion item, not a board vote. An "ITS & BEB Dashboard Demo" is listed among items to be scheduled for a future work session. The board's next work session is Nov. 12.
This story is based on the published agenda packet and Cherriots' public web pages. It does not reflect any discussion at the meeting itself.
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