LA Metro Taps ENC for 220 Electric Buses Ahead of 2028 Olympics

Los Angeles County’s transit authority has committed to a major fleet expansion, awarding ENC a contract for 220 battery-electric buses. The deal, greenlit by the LA Metro Board on September 24, carries a price tag of $337.7 million and leaves the door open for as many as 1,600 additional vehicles down the line.

The buses in question are ENC’s 40-foot AXESS EVO-BE models, which rely on BAE Systems’ Gen 3 electric drive and can carry up to 738 kWh of battery capacity. Depending on how each vehicle is configured and the routes it serves, LA Metro expects a real-world range of roughly 174 to 250 miles. Production will take place at ENC’s 227,000-square-foot plant in Jurupa Valley, California, a facility the company says anchors a supplier network that employs hundreds across LA County and Southern California.

The timing is tied to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with deliveries scheduled to land before the global spotlight arrives. Beyond the Games, the order feeds into LA Metro’s broader ambition to run a fully zero-emission fleet by 2030. ENC is no stranger to LA Metro, and the manufacturer has been steadily broadening its electric lineup, including past work on wireless inductive charging capable of delivering up to 450 kW.

This purchase also adds to a growing pattern of electrification around the Olympics. LA previously named Highland Electric Fleets as its electric school bus provider for the Games, with 500 vehicles set to shuttle stakeholders. California, for its part, has pledged $202 million toward roughly 143 clean transportation projects, with public transit as a central focus.