EDITOR’S TAKE
New York State of Charge Written by Ryan Gray |
ryan@stnonline.com A
curious thing happened in New York State last month. While it is normal each spring for states to approve budgets for the coming fiscal year, and adding all sorts of funding
provisions, New York legislators took the opportunity to address school bus electrification. What’s so abnormal about that, you ask? After all, the
state is staring down a 2027 deadline for all school dis- tricts and bus contractors to only purchase zero-emission school buses, in other words battery-electric. The budget added another year extension to 2029 for school districts demonstrating hardships in meeting the compliance date, and that’s a good thing. At the same time, legislators included a provision that seemingly makes selling and buying electric school buses that much harder. Article 11-C calls for independent, third-party estimat- ed range testing in all operating conditions. School bus dealers will need to provide real-world data (or as closely replicated as possible) that demonstrates how range is affected by different road conditions, topography and weather. And by Jan. 1, 2026, no less. While the industry desperately needs accurate, real-world range estimates rather than perfect-world scenarios that don’t exist, the possibilities under this budget are arduously endless. Like with most legislation, the devil is in the details. And this budget lacks a lot of it. The New York State Energy Research and Develop-
ment Authority (NYSERDA) administers the New York School Bus Incentive Program, which supports the adoption of electric school buses across the state. A spokesperson told me, “many engineering firms and other companies across the country focus on testing buses, which could include the range of buses.” But NYSERDA doesn’t maintain a list of names. Institutions like West Virginia University’s Center for Al-
ternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions come to mind, but at what price? A representative there had not responded to my question on the feasibility of such a project. The logistics of each manufacturer shipping a year’s worth of electric school bus orders to a testing facility or facilities makes no logistical or financial sense. Then, there’s the question of how to test. An electric
vehicle expert I spoke with said testing an electric school bus on a dynamometer could cost well over $50,000.
12 School Transportation News • JUNE 2025
That’s before finding a climate-controlled room to mim- ic all the different weather conditions not to mention road surfaces. It is certainly improbable if not impossible to physically test drive each school bus on all conceiv- able types of routes throughout the state. The NYSERDA spokesperson added that specialized
equipment is not necessary, “just buses and a compre- hensive testing plan to compare buses and track energy use and miles driven.” But no such plan for school buses currently exists,
according to industry insiders I spoke with. There is statistical data collection for other electric vehicles that could serve as a starting point. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory also has a free data logger that is compatible with telematics systems but is only working with a half-dozen fleets so far. Meanwhile, the New York fine for noncompliance with the testing, enforced on Jan. 1, is $1,000 per bus. NYSER- DA did not respond to a question on where fine revenues would go. Funding a program to help school districts pur- chase electric school buses and infrastructure would be a good place to start, or to fund the testing it calls for. But who’s to say school bus dealers don’t simply take the fine and proceed with the sale, and pass through the addition- al costs to customers? I hear the provision was added to the budget by legisla-
tors as a counterbalance to extending the school district waiver and because of the contrast between OEM range estimates and actual range from the field. Expect ongoing discussions in Albany throughout the summer and fall. Realistic electric school bus range data is sorely needed,
there’s no question about that, and existing telemat- ics data from each school bus model and each battery configuration is the key. Take that data and quantify by weather, road conditions and geography. I’m simplifying, of course. The challenge remains that there aren’t enough electric school buses on the nation’s roads yet, much less New York’s, to account for every type of route in every climate. But it’s a start. The work needs to begin yesterday, or legislators need to fix the provision, to avoid a winter of discontent in the Empire State and possibly beyond. ●
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