{"id":1605,"date":"2013-10-23T19:11:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T19:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/23\/maker-of-lavals-1-million-electric-bus\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:41:32","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:41:32","slug":"maker-of-lavals-1-million-electric-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/10\/23\/maker-of-lavals-1-million-electric-bus\/","title":{"rendered":"Maker of Laval\u2019s $1 million electric bus goes bust"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robert Frank<\/b>
www.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

A Delaware bankruptcy court judge has ordered the sale of Designline, the company Laval hired to make its electric buses. <\/p>\n

Designline filed for bankruptcy, Aug. 15, and the firm\u2019s bus manufacturing line in Charlotte, North Carolina, ground to a halt at the beginning of October. The announcement that it will be auctioned off, Oct. 28, raises the possibility that Designline\u2019s assets will be sold off piecemeal. <\/p>\n

Quebec Transport Minister Sylvain Gareau and Laval des Rapides MNA L\u00e9o Bureau-Blouin launched the project with great fanfare in January.<\/a> They said that Quebec taxpayers would subsidize Laval\u2019s electric buses to the tune of $600,000, and that Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec would kick in another $100,000. <\/p>\n

Laval\u2019s transit authority has been testing a Designline battery-powered bus since April. Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des transports de Laval <\/i>(STL) has spent nearly $1 million on the initial prototype.<\/p>\n

STL\u2019s prototype has been plying Laval streets since it was placed in service in April<\/a>, and was slated to enter regular service this fall. STL showed off its new technology at a series of public viewings, and offered free electric bus shuttle service between Montmorency and Le Carrefour on several weekends during the summer. <\/p>\n

Bankrupt busmaker Designline is known for its excellent high-level political connections. It formerly employed Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, whom President Barrack Obama appointed United States Secretary of Transportation, July 2. <\/p>\n

When The Suburban<\/i> went to press, it was unclear whether STL is among Designline\u2019s creditors. Court documents indicate that it owes its biggest creditor, New Jersey Transit, wants back the US$3.64 million it had already paid for as-yet undelivered buses. In 2011, a Designline hybrid-electric bus that served Charlotte International Airport caught fire. No one was injured in the blaze.<\/p>\n

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By Robert Frankwww.thesuburban.com A Delaware bankruptcy court judge has ordered the sale of Designline, the company Laval hired to make its electric buses. Designline filed for bankruptcy, Aug. 15, and the firm\u2019s bus manufacturing line in Charlotte, North Carolina, ground to a halt at the beginning of October. The announcement that it will be auctioned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMaker of Laval\u2019s $1 million electric bus goes bust - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/10\/23\/maker-of-lavals-1-million-electric-bus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maker of Laval\u2019s $1 million electric bus goes bust - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robert Frankwww.thesuburban.com A Delaware bankruptcy court judge has ordered the sale of Designline, the company Laval hired to make its electric buses. 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