Electrification specialist Lightning eMotors continues to help electrify the commercial vehicle industry around the US, where all of its EVs are developed and assembled. Today, the company announced that the St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) has purchased several ZEV4 electric shuttle buses that will soon transport travelers between terminals.
Lightning eMotors ($ZEV) designs, engineers, and manufactures a variety of EVs and adjacent technologies to support commercial fleet customers. Although it began by creating specialized electric conversions of existing platforms developed by other OEMs like Ford and GM, it has been offering purpose-built EVs on its proprietary platform for nearly two years now.
To support its lineup of EVs, Lightning eMotors has begun dabbling in other technologies, like autonomous capabilities, wireless EV charging, and supportive charging infrastructure under its Lightning Mobile arm.
Lightning’s ZEV4 electric shuttle bus previously received Altoona testing certification from the FTA, a requirement for any electric bus to qualify for funds from federal and state governments participating in the FTA’s $4 billion Low and No Emissions Grant program.
Lightning eMotors ZEV3 passenger van joined the ZEV4 as its second Altoona-certified EV back in January. As a result of its vehicles receiving grant qualifying certification, more and more commercial operators are pulling the trigger on electric vehicles, the latest being the STL Airport.
Lightning’s electric shuttle buses to join STL in Q4
Per details shared by Lightning eMotors today, St. Louis Lambert International Airport has purchased five ZEV4 electric shuttle buses, which will be operated by the airport’s partner, SP Plus Parking.
The buses will be used to transport STL visitors between the airport’s two terminals and will be supported by the installation of five Level 2 chargers and one DC fast charger – also part of STL’s purchase from Lightning eMotors.
STL was able to fund the purchase of the five electric shuttle buses and chargers thanks in part to a grant from the FAA called the Airport Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) and Infrastructure Pilot Program. This program offers over $5 billion in available funding for FTA/FAA businesses to purchase Buy American-compliant zero-emission vehicles. The ZEV4 is certified as both FAA Buy American and FTA Buy America-compliant. Per Lightning eMotors’ chief revenue officer Kash Sethi:
Our team has worked hard to ensure our products meet the high standards required to receive any of the billions of federal dollars that are available to support the expansion of the EV ecosystem. This order is a great validation that our vehicles and charging technology are ideally suited to help airports achieve their business and environmental goals. As our first order purchased with funds from the FAA’s Buy American VALE funding program, it is a clear case study in why these grants are crucial to accelerating EV deployments at airports nationwide.
Lightning eMotors’ new fleet in St. Louis joins 24 electric shuttle buses at the San Diego International Aiport, which have combined to drive over one million miles since operations began in 2020. Lightning states that the new ZEV4s headed to Missouri are expected to travel about 100 miles per shift, safely below the bus’ 130-mile range.
The five shuttle buses and six EV chargers are set to deliver later this year and begin operations at STL in Q4, 2023.