Electric buses, which offer far reduced maintenance costs in an attempt to counterbalance high upfront purchase prices, are now offered by all school bus manufacturers.
some mechanics are nonetheless not thrilled about a transition. “A diesel bus is way more com-
plicated to work on and more cumbersome than our electric bus, but a diesel mechanic has been doing that for 20 years,” Shetter- ly explained. “When you go into a school district and say they are going to save hundreds of thou- sands of dollars, the technician asks you how. Well, they don’t need oil changes, they don’t need transmis- sion services.” To a mechanic, Shetterly added,
that can feel like hearing, “Oh, so you don’t need me.”
Charging Choices Adopting electric buses natu-
rally involves installing charging stations at district facilities. Once installed the stations require little maintenance. But deciding on how many and what type of chargers to purchase, and preparing the electric infrastructure is an import- ant undertaking. Chargers can be expensive, but various state, federal and private grants and incentives are available, and dealers are eager to help districts navigate the options. Childers explained that AC
charging, which takes about 8 hours, is adequate for many dis- tricts. Charging happens overnight or sometimes while students are in classes. If districts need to use buses more frequently or have routes with high mileage, DC charging stations that charge in several hours may be necessary. DC charging costs any- where from $10,000 to $75,000, while AC chargers could cost only $5,000 to $10,000 each, Childers said.
“It really comes down to when the buses will be able to charge, and for how long,” explained Rudder- ham. “The main difference comes down to cost. Your typical DC fast charging station will cost signifi- cantly more than an AC charging station and will have different elec- trical infrastructure requirements. Thankfully, there are many grants and incentives available to districts, and sometimes local electric com- panies will help assist with the cost.” Public utilities are increasing-
ly supporting the installation of fast-charging stations because of benefits of vehicle-to-grid services, wherein the utilities can tap EV as a storage or modulation device. Utilities may reimburse districts for the charging stations, or offer pricing plans where districts are compensated for storing energy or otherwise allowing the utility to benefit from the plugged-in buses. Blue Bird’s buses come standard
with a CCS1 connector to enable both AC and DC charging, Rudder- ham noted. “This design was put in place because even if a district has infrastructure in place for DC charging, for example, they may need to charge while out and about at an AC charging station built for consumer vehicles,” he said. “It also allows customers to upgrade their facility to DC fast-charging later on if they wish.” Alexander at Lion said slower
AC charging is sufficient for most districts. “Even electric school buses with ranges of 150 miles plus—and thus the largest batteries—can receive a full charge overnight.” But if buses can’t be charged at a school
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