The nearest major city to me has had electric buses since 1940. There are power cables overhead and poles that link the bus to the grid. No need for expensive flammable batteries that need extensive charging.
Historically they didn’t. But many (certainly not all) modern trolley busses have batteries (or more common, super capacitors) that allow for short distances to be travelled without contact with the lines. It’s certainly not an ‘all’ thing though.
The nearest major city to me has had electric buses since 1940. There are power cables overhead and poles that link the bus to the grid. No need for expensive flammable batteries that need extensive charging.
OK, well, that’s nice in a city. I’d love to see them try and get a tram up the mountain here, though.
Trolley busses still have batteries, they just get charged by the overhead wires while the bus is driving.
Historically they didn’t. But many (certainly not all) modern trolley busses have batteries (or more common, super capacitors) that allow for short distances to be travelled without contact with the lines. It’s certainly not an ‘all’ thing though.
They’re more of a backup option. The point being that it’s safer and cheaper than modern high-capacity batteries.