[neolefty]

TFA has great practical information about the switch from diesel to battery. A few examples:

* How do you arrange parked buses in a garage so that they can charge? Diagrams included!

* Purchase cost: 2x up front compared to diesel, but improving

* Operating cost: 50% lower than diesel (but labor—hiring the driver—is still 60%)

[jeffwass]

No inclusion of the knock-on benefits of NHS savings from fewer cases of diesel exhaust complications.

[jdavis703]

What if having people die early from diesel fumes winds up saving NHS more money though [0]?

0: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/18/news/tobacco-giants-analy...

[gascan]

Yeah, but that comes out of someone else's budget, so who cares right?

[lallysingh]

Any comparison of noise generated by these buses? Of changes in the on-time rate due to changed handling/acceleration? How much smoke did the diesels put out?

[icebraining]

The noise inside the bus seems quite annoying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEKJSMqhYKk

[Tade0]

I've been in one of these. The noise is noticeable but not nearly as offensive as a diesel bus engine revving.

Also there's no idling that would normally cause vibrations.

[Reason077]

Yes, it's a much more relaxing ride compared to a diesel bus. Smooth and quiet.

The noise seems to be exaggerated somewhat in that video - in real life it's pretty subtle.

[woodandsteel]

In discussing the economics, the article neglected to mention the huge reduction in maintenance costs.

[londons_explore]

I wonder if it is that big?

Your car maintenance you'll typically spend 4 hours for an annual service, at $50 per hour. Total: $200

A bus in a depot uses in house staff ($25 per hour), and since all the busses are identical and they're probably performing the same service on 5 at a time, probably only works out to an hour per bus. Total cost $25.

Thats so small compared to the salary of the driver who drives it around normally, maintenance cost might not be a significant part of the equation.