Proterra Takes the Hill
Secretary LaHood on the bus with Founder Dale Hill at the Department of Transportation
In October 2009, the Proterra EcoRide™ BE35 transit bus (Battery electric bus with fuel cell range extension) made a visit to Washington, D.C., to meet a few people and help them get to know Proterra. Over the course of three days, two Senators (Senator Graham of South Carolina and Senator Brown of Ohio) actually drove the bus and Representatives Inglis of South Carolina and Inslee of Washington also got behind the wheel - Inslee winning the award for the first member of Congress to not only drive it forward but also in reverse. Many more officials came aboard to learn about what clean, quiet transportation could do for their districts not the least of which were Senator Bayh of Indiana and Ensign of Nevada, as well as Representatives DeFazio of Oregon and Rodriguez of Texas.
We also had the opportunity to visit with high level officials from the Department of Energy, representatives of the armed services and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood who blogged about the bus.
We’ll be back to Washington with our EcoRide™ BE35 fast charge bus in the near future to introduce the next generation of clean transportation.