Charlotte Area Transit Fleet EV Pilot Project

Mortenson was chosen as the engineering, procurement, and construction partner for this fleet depot electrification project for eTransEnergy, a Duke Energy Company, and the Charlotte Area Transit System. The project included the design and construction of infrastructure for 20 buses across two depot locations as a first phase of a 300-bus electrification program. The chargers for this project were 150kW units supplied by Siemens (at the S Tryon Depot) and ABB (at the N Davidson Depot).

This project was part of the city of Charlotte’s Strategic Energy Action Plan that aims to shift to a 100% zero-carbon energy in municipal buildings and vehicles by 2030 and become a “low-carbon” city by 2050. The project also supported the city’s equity goals as the electric buses run first on routes of the “Corridors of Opportunity” in the under-invested areas of west, north, and east Charlotte where the highest pollution rates are experienced.

To further support its equity aspirations, the city of Charlotte set a goal of 5% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) utilization on the project. At completion, Mortenson had achieved 10% DBE utilization, doubling this important metric.

The Charlotte Area Transit Fleet EV Pilot project had many stakeholders: fleet operations, public personnel, facilities, and budget/capital management. To ensure successful operations, Mortenson developed a true quorum between all affected parties. The team ensured collaboration early on by holding frequent meetings during preconstruction to gather consensus and align on project goals. In doing so, Mortenson was able to incorporate asks up-front, help all entities understand how the infrastructure and future operations would look and function, and communicate any disruption or behavioral changes that would take place.

Moving from a combustion-based fleet operation to charging is a complex undertaking, and the Mortenson team strived to make the process seamless and understandable. As the designer, Mortenson built a purposeful facility around the customer’s vision and ensured clear and constant communication from start to finish. At the close of the project, Mortenson provided thorough training to provide personnel understanding of how to operate equipment.

Construction of the project began in September 2021, and both facilities are operational with the S Tryon facility being commissioned in December 2021 and the N Davidson facility being commissioned in January 2022.