Electric bus maker Proterra opens California factory

A Proterra San Joaquin Regional Transit District bus in Stockton in December. A Proterra San Joaquin Regional Transit District bus in Stockton in December. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Electric bus maker Proterra opens California factory 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Proterra, the Burlingame builder of electric buses, opened a factory in the Los Angeles area Wednesday, in an effort to move some of its manufacturing closer to its West Coast customers.

The company’s new plant, in the City of Industry, will build buses for public transit agencies throughout California and other Western states. Until now, all of its battery-powered buses have been built in South Carolina and shipped to customers — a sometimes expensive proposition.

The company moved its headquarters to California in 2015 after concluding that the state — with its strong emphasis on fighting climate change — could become its biggest market.

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The new factory lies close to Proterra’s first customer, Foothill Transit, which has committed to electrifying its entire bus fleet by 2030. The agency serves 25 cities in San Gabriel Valley and Pomona Valley, and already runs 17 Proterra buses. Other California customers include the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the San Joaquin Regional Transit District in Stockton.

“We can redirect the billions of dollars we’re spending on dirty fuel and equipment, mostly from vendors out of state, and clean up our air while employing our neighbors,” said Proterra CEO Ryan Popple Wednesday, at an opening ceremony for the factory. The company says its latest buses can travel more than 200 miles on a fully charged battery.

The factory occupies a building formerly used to make LED lights. It is expected to employ 60 people by the end of this year and 100 people by the end of 2018, according to the company.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who a day earlier signed a law allowing California’s cap-and-trade market for curbing greenhouse gases to continue to operate past 2020, told the crowd of dignitaries and Proterra employees that the switch to electric buses is inevitable. But he cautioned that China, where he recently met with President Xi Jinping, is determined to dominate the market for electric vehicles, the way it has with solar panels.

“It’s a competitive challenge, and we’ve got to meet it,” Brown said. He also threw in a dig at Congress and the Trump administration, which is trying to roll back federal climate policies.

“We are a great nation, and we’ve got to wake up, make the investments, and get the political will to get things done,” Brown said. “And that’s what’s happening here in California.”

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com