Electric vehicles are the future — and that future is here today.

Now I’m not trying to diss on traditional gasoline/diesel powered vehicles. I really think they will always have a place where they can be the most useful. We also can’t completely neglect some of the amazing vehicles we had in the past that have a relay on gasoline. I’m looking at you, muscle cars.

But that brings me back to the now! Electric vehicle technology, especially battery size and performance, is getting better and better, and cheaper and cheaper every single day. Not only are plug-in hybrids becoming more popular, but full on electric cars are too, such as the entire Tesla lineup, the Chevy Bolt (I want one so bad, and that’s from someone who never thought they’d want any Chevy), or the BMW i3.

While electric cars are great, and I’m extremely excited for them to become more of the norm, what I really want to see is more electric public transportation.

Seattle has the right idea with their trolleybus system, and while there is no doubt Seattle’s public transportation system gets a lot of use from the trolleybuses, there is still room for improvement. A major problem with trolleybuses is that they are limited to the lines above, which in turn limits the routes they're able to do.

That is where I see the bigger need for plug-in electric busses.

Seriously, why aren't these as common as I think they should be? An electric bus not limited by overhead power lines would have so many more useful applications.

Currently, Tesla is selling reservations for its new electric semi truck. The base model of the Tesla semi has an estimated 300-mile range, with the long-range option boosting it to 500 miles. Both of these trucks are going to be available for less than $200,000.

Right now the average price of a new diesel semi truck on Freightliner Northwest’s website is $150,000. Not too far off of what Tesla is looking for their more efficient electric trucks.

Now if this can be done with semis, for around the same price as conventional diesel, why can't this same technology be put into more busses?

Right now a bus manufacturer called Proterra is producing 35 and 40-foot electric busses. They claim that their electric buses will save users $237,000 over the lifetime of the bus when compared to more traditional busses.

According to Texas A&M’s public transportation FAQ page, their 100 bus fleet averages 1.82 million miles a year. That's approximately only 50 miles a day per bus. The fact that Tesla’s $200k semi that can go 500 miles on a charge, or Proterra’s lowest option bus can go 70 miles on a charge leads me to ask again — why aren’t public transportation electric vehicles more common?