HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE I
Ride-and-drive events, like the one planned for Green Bus Summit at STN EXPO Reno this month, can be eye- opening experiences
Written by Taylor Hannon |
taylor@stnonline.com
’ve always lived within walking distance to the schools I at- tended, so often riding a school bus was limited to field trips and sporting events, which weren’t very common. You can imagine my surprise when I was asked if I wanted to test drive
the IC Bus Electric CE Series school bus, supervised in a closed parking lot of course. I’ve heard the term “regenerative braking” thrown around the
industry the past couple of years, but I only fully understood the term after I got behind the wheel. As a five-foot female, the thought of driving a school bus was intimidating. However, my fears and concerns went away when I depressed the acceleration pedal at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, California in May. Feeling regenerative braking work in real time as I took my foot
off the “gas” was an incredible experience, as the bus instantly starts to slow down. It resulted in me not having to press as hard on the brakes to stop the vehicle. Plus, when your foot is off the pedal, energy is going back into the battery and saving districts money as the brakes are used less often. The IC Bus Electric CE Series employs three levels of driver-se- lectable regenerative braking. I drove on Level 3, or 100 percent regen braking, which “allows for one-pedal style driving and will slow the vehicle to a few miles per hour with the driver using the service brake to bring the vehicle to a complete stop,” Kelly White, the director of eMobility business development for IC Bus, told me via email after the event. She added that Level 1, or 30 percent regen braking, provides
similar stopping capabilities to a traditional automatic trans- mission vehicle. Level 2, or 60 percent regen braking, provides a moderate amount of regenerative braking. “One reason today’s electric buses can achieve such impressive range is regenerative braking technology,” she explained. “In- stead of using friction from the brake rotors to slow the vehicle, which is wasted energy, and under moderate braking, electric trucks and buses use the electric motor to slow down while at the same time charging the battery.” She noted that by using a three-level selectable regenerative
26 School Transportation News • JULY 2022
braking, it allows drivers to adapt to the technol- ogy as they learn it. In addition to braking, the other thing that stood out to me was how quiet the electric school buses really are. Attendees at STN EXPO Reno this month will be able to experience a similar feeling, as School Transportation News will be holding the Green Bus Summit with a ride-and- drive event on July 17. As electric school buses become more prominent, and as federal funds and state mandates ensure more electric buses
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUE BIRD
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