INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS: BRIEFS
ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS TEST PROJECT ENTERS SECOND PHASE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
A
t least three school districts in San Diego County are involved in testing a new 48-seat all-electric school bus developed by TransPower of Poway, Calif., as part of a state pilot program to promote clean-energy bus fleets.
Escondido Unified High School District concluded its month-
long trial in May and sent the bus to Cajon Valley School District for the next phase. Robert Berkstresser, EUHSD transportation director, told STN that local air board officials asked school districts last year if they wanted to participate in TransPower’s pilot program and road-test the electric bus. Berkstresser quickly said yes, so earlier this year he worked with the company to get the electric bus inspected and registered to his district. Berkstresser used the electric school bus on one morning route
daily and found it ran about 60 miles before needing to be re- charged in his shop. He drove the bus himself many times and said it was so quiet, it reminded him of the Monorail at Disneyland. At the start of the trial, Berkstresser said the bus would return to
the yard with a 6- to 10-percent reserve, but that doubled to about 20 percent by the end of the testing period. “A lot had to do with how the driver operated it, because the
less you use the brakes and the more you allow the bus to decel- erate on its own, you would recoup some energy to the batteries. So driver technique would determine your distance and battery
life for the trip,” he explained. Joshua Goldman, TransPower’s VP of business development, told
STN their engineers are monitoring system performance, fuel (bat- tery) economy, range and efficiency, while also providing real-time diagnostic information to learn from during the demonstration project. Funding comes from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District and California Air Resources Board, whose goal is to reduce diesel fuel emissions that can pose health risks.
Reasonable Pricing · Exceptional Customer Care · Quality Parts 1.800.635.5567
buspartswarehouse.com 38 School Transportation News June 2014
All Your Bus Needs, At Just One
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68