and we get credits for charging our buses during off- peak hours and that helps bring the cost down.” By contrast, Gerald Blackard, owner of contrac-
tor Tok Transportation Services in Alaska, runs his single ESB in temperatures that dip to minus 80 degrees and lower. In a March STN Podcast, Black- ard shared that it costs more to run his ESB than it does to purchase a new diesel bus. “That’s just to run the bus,” Blackard emphasized. Blackard, whose other buses are diesel, added
that one of the biggest problems with ESBs is the interior is so large it’s difficult to keep them heated. He added that while school districts in the lower 48 states can use diesel-fueled heaters in their ESBs to cut operating costs, his ESB is 100 percent electric. “It [takes] a lot of electricity to run the heater,” Blackard said. “The bus costs about 88 cents per mile to run in normal temperatures, I’d say that’s down to around 20 degrees. We get any colder than that [and] it starts to drop down pretty fast because you have to open the doors so often. It costs about $1.98 per mile in cold, cold temperatures. Versus a
diesel bus for the same mileage. For diesel at $5.29 a gallon, we were coming in at 53 cents a mile. Our electric rate is 59 cents a kilowatt hour. That makes a big difference on the cost of the bus.” Blackard added that another unexpected out-
come was a demand charge from the energy company whenever his charger exceeds 20,000 watts. “I pay an extra $250 to $350 a month just for that demand charge that I didn’t have before,” Blackard lamented. “Now I’m working with the charger company to try to get that turned down and stay under 20,000 watts.” Blackard continued that his EVSP has a dash-
board setup connected to the charger and is working on establishing a seamless integration between the two. He added that he believes the new technology
will eventually work when some of the glitches that are being “glossed over” are worked out, however, he does not see another ESB in his future. “For us and [for] how much it costs, I will not be getting another electric bus,” Blackard concluded. ●
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