King County Metro signs big contract to upgrade trolley bus fleet

King County Metro is paying $26 million to upgrade its electric trolley buses.

On Tuesday, German clean tech company Heramba Electric and subsidiary Kiepe Electric announced King County Metro will upgrade the battery capacity and in-motion charging on its fleet of 174 trolley buses, which usually draw power from overhead lines but can operate on battery power over short distances.

Bill Thon, a superintendent at King County Metro, said the upgrades will roughly triple the buses' battery capacity.

"The trolleys have reached midlife, so that means it's time to take this step," he said. "The good news is we're taking this step with a vendor that already has engineering capability and capacity and familiarity with the fleet."

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/08/29/king-county-metro-kiepe-heramba-electric-buses.html