throughout the process.” First Student’s Matthews shared
that it’s important for contractors to talk with both the utility and school district partners to create an approach that is cost effective. “In
some instances, putting in a couple of chargers may not be cost effective, so take into account that it may not be possible only installing one or two chargers because of the initial work that has to be done,” Matthews
said. “You can’t spread the cost across multiple chargers if you’re installing one or two.” When deploying 20 plus
units, he said, the first critical step is working with the utility to make sure power can be provided in that location. But that process can take months.
What's your path to electrification?
VEHICLE: K12 EV Bus 03
BATTERY LEVEL: 98%
TIME: 07:23
VEHICLE: K12 EV Bus 03
BATTERY LEVEL: 98%
TIME: 07:23
VEHICLE: K12 EV Bus 03
BATTERY LEVEL: 98%
TIME: 07:23
Challenges Happen The second step, Matthews said, is knowing the size of the transformers needed on the district’s side of the meter to make the distribution to the charging stations work. Harris in West Virginia has
experience with this. He ad- vised planning well ahead and contacting the energy provider as soon as possible to deter- mine if the site can handle the power demand. He said there could be areas in one’s operation where power to that location is not possible. He also advised his peers to consider a larger transformer that can handle more power. He added that due to the increase in chargers at his location, his district must replace the trans- former with a larger unit. Schrader in Michigan ad-
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mitted adoption has had some hiccups. Up until recently, Three Rivers had virtually no problems with the buses. She noted the district did learn some lessons along the way, especially when operating in colder weather. For instance, chamber condensation build up in the diesel heater that warms the bus interior had to be cleaned out. She said it takes the technicians 15 minutes to blow it out with an air hose. That’s become part of the dis- tricts’ preventive maintenance during cold temperatures.
52 School Transportation News • JUNE 2024
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