Category Archives: electric vehicles

Electric buses at UCSC

An electric bus boards passengers at UCLA
Electric bus at the UCLA campus

Hilly terrain and a spread-out campus make UCSC’s shuttle buses an indispensable service for students, staff and faculty. However, the existing bus fleet consists of aging diesel vehicles, which are cost-effective but emit more than 50 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

This report analyzes the potential for electric buses to serve the UCSC campus, considering both the cost and practical issues such as vehicle range, charging locations and the ability of the buses to navigate steep hills. Although electric buses have a higher upfront cost, the report concludes that they are a better choice than a new diesel fleet to reach carbon neutrality, and would be more cost effective in the long run.

Read the report (access to UCSC affiliates only).

Electric vehicle charging

EV charger in Core West

In its 2017 Campus Sustainability Plan, UCSC aims to increase the proportion of electric vehicles on campus, moving closer to its sustainability goal of a 4.5% share of zero-emission vehicles for personal commute by 2025. In this report, Jesus Contreras analyzes current and future demand for new charging stations, in order to help accommodate this growth. Read his report. (Apr 2018)