Seattle deal could lead to Proterra expansion

Electric bus maker Proterra may have to expand its Greenville factory if Seattle's transit agency exercises its options under a newly inked contract, Proterra's chief executive said.

CEO Ryan Popple said the deal with King County Metro Transit has the potential to be Proterra's biggest single piece of business ever.

The transit agency has bought two of Proterra's battery-powered, zero-emission buses for testing, and if that goes well, could buy 200 more buses over five years at $800,000 each, Popple said.

That would mean more than $100 million in revenue, he said, and likely trigger the need to expand Proterra's 184-worker factory along Interstate 85 in Greenville.

"We've got a tiger by the tail," Popple said.

King County confirmed the purchase of two Proterra buses as it "plans to make its entire fleet even greener by 2018," but the transit agency's statement didn't mention anything about options for more.

Popple said Proterra beat three competitors for the business: New Flyer, Nova Bus and BYD.

John Sleconich, Proterra's vice president of engineering, said transit agencies around the county follow King County's example.

"They are considered one of the top transit agencies in the United States," Sleconich said.

He also said King County has been "married" to Canadian bus maker New Flyer "for a very, very long time."

"To unseat the incumbent on a new technology like this is a very big deal," Sleconich said.

Proterra relocated to Greenville from Golden, Colo., four years ago as a startup company.