Tindo - The First Practical Battery-Electric Bus?

On February 11. 2008, the battery-powered Tindo bus made its debut in Adelaide, Australia. The Tindo bus uses molten-salt Zebra batteries for storage and a charger system at a central bus stop. This flyer shows the important data in metric units. The data are converted to American units below.

• Capacity:
  • Seated – 25
  • Wheelchair – 2
  • Total – 27
  • Standing - ?
• Length: 34 feet, 2-1/4 inches
• Speed: 47 mph
• Maximum grade: 12.5%
• Range between recharges "under typical urban conditions": 124 mi
• Has air conditioning
• Unknown (to me) whether it has heat
  
• "1 minute of charge = 1 kilometre" (0.62 mi)
• Charger voltage: 386 V
• Charger power: 70 kW
• Battery temperature: 270° C (518° F)
• Cost of first bus: $US 460,000 (as of 9/21/08)
  

It looks like this bus could be practical for relatively short runs already made by 35 foot buses with relatively long layovers for charging. Presumably, longer buses could be manufactured.

This is really second-generation technology. The exciting part lies in what could be done with third-generation battery or supercapacitor technology.