The Bus of the Future Is Electric, Proterra CEO Says

The city bus sector could go from diesel to almost entirely electric within a decade, according to Ryan Popple, chief executive officer of privately held battery-electric bus manufacturer Proterra Inc. He spoke to Anne Riley Moffat at Collision in New Orleans about his company’s plans to grab market share and potential for going public. Comments have been edited and condensed.

It’s probably an eventuality — that, or being acquired by a larger company — simply because at some point, given just the working-capital requirements of being a major manufacturer in any of the transportation markets, you’re going to need access to global capital. I’d say IPO timing at this point is more of a bureaucratic question than it is an operational question; it’s just a ton of work. But it’s possible it happens this year or next year.