Clean Air Buses for a Sustainable Future
Benefits of a Fully Battery-Electric Fleet
Quick charging for 5 minutes puts enough energy in the battery to allow the bus to travel six to eight miles. These buses can go up to 200 miles per day on a single charge, and have a top speed of 60 mph. Using electricity to power the buses saves about 50 gallons of diesel fuel per day for each bus in operation, and about $23,000 per year in fuel and maintenance costs per vehicle. Daily use of the electric bus fleet prevents about 1,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere each year.
Our 32 electric buses’ total mileage ran in 2025 was 1,006,712 miles.
A History of Commitment to Clean Air Buses
Link Transit has prioritized being on the cutting edge of operating battery electric transit buses. Today, a fully functional and operational fleet of full-sized, extended-range, fast-charged transit buses is a reality, but it was a multi-year initiative to get us to where we are today.
Originally begun in 2009 as a project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the TIGGER Program, Link Transit purchased five battery electric replica trolleys and two fast-chargers from E-Bus, located in Downey, CA.
Following numerous delays, these buses were delivered beginning in 2010 and were fully implemented into service by 2014. Soon thereafter the vehicles and chargers began to experience significant problems with the batteries and charging system. The chargers were removed from use in early 2017 and the vehicles ceased operation later that year.
In 2016, Link Transit ordered five 35-foot BYD K9S battery electric coaches, which were delivered in 2017. These buses were charged overnight using plug-in chargers. Operationally, these buses proved to be somewhat problematic, with a high rate of failure. These buses were returned to the manufacturer and replaced with five newer buses in early 2018.
In early 2018, Momentum Dynamics installed a 200-kW inductive charging system at Link’s primary transit center, with successful charging of a bus first done on March 8, 2018. This technology allows buses to be charged throughout the day at the end of their route, so there is no need to pull a bus from service to charge the batteries.
In late 2020, Momentum Dynamics began installing an additional three inductive charging systems, these have the capacity to charge up to 300 kW. The final installation of these systems was completed in late June 2021, and they were being used to charge Link’s fleet of 12 battery electric buses operating in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee.
In May 2023, Link took delivery of eight additional 30′ BYD coaches, and three 35′ coaches, bringing the total number of electric vehicles in the fleet to 23. By December 1, 2023, we had four inductive charging units in operation.
Today in 2026, Link has 32 total BYD buses (19 30-footers and 13 35-footer). Our BYD buses are battery-electric and powered by clean, renewable, locally generated hydropower. We have quick-charger locations at Columbia Station, Wilkommen Park and Ride (Leavenworth), and the East Wenatchee Park-and-Ride.
