Capital Metro in Austin, Texas has approved a plan to purchase 26 40-foot Proterra ZX5 Max electric transit buses, featuring a total of more than 17 megawatt hours of battery storage capacity. The plan approved by Capital Metro also contains options for the agency to acquire an additional 126 40-foot electric transit buses and chargers over five years.

The procurement plan approved by Capital Metro marks one of the largest acquisitions yet of battery-electric transit buses in North America. Capital Metro’s first Proterra ZX5 Max buses are slated to be delivered in 2022.

The new purchase agreement is Capital Metro’s third and largest procurement of Proterra battery-electric transit buses. Over the past year and a half, the agency introduced its first six Proterra electric-transit buses as well as its North Operations electric bus yard, which utilizes Proterra Energy interoperable charging infrastructure to support the agency’s growing fleet of electric transit buses.

Designed and manufactured in the United States, Proterra’s electric transit buses are equipped with the company’s battery technology systems. The 40-foot Proterra ZX5 Max selected by Capital Metro features 675 kWh of energy storage to deliver up to 329 miles of drive range on a single charge—the most energy storage and longest drive range of any 40-foot electric bus available in the market today.

Capital Metro has established a goal to transition its entire fleet of more than 400 transit vehicles to zero-emission buses.