won’t add up as quickly for districts as they would when electric vehicles are used more intensely. That’s among the reasons why Couch and other experts emphasize the need to look at total cost of ownership, including maintenance savings on electric buses and the cost of obtaining and maintaining electric charging infrastructure. “Whether total cost of ownership makes sense is almost entirely depen-
dent right now on the grant incentives for paying down the capital costs” of new electric buses and charging infrastructure,” said Couch, who is hosting the breakout session “Achieving School Bus Fleet Electrification” at the ACT Expo in Las Vegas on May 22. “That’s true in most heavy-duty applications, especially in ones with relatively low fuel use per year. School buses do an incredibly important service, but they don’t use a lot of fuel.” Editor’s note—School Transportation News is an official media sponsor
of the ACT EXPO. Once total cost of ownership is calculated, per-mile savings with elec-
tric may not look like a lot. But in Couch’s view, they are still important. “I don’t think there are insignificant costs when it comes to school dis-
tricts. Every penny counts,” he said. “If you’re saving a couple thousand a year in fuel costs in a district with 30, 50 or 100 buses, that is meaningful.” Districts don’t usually tout per-mile savings as the main attribute of electric buses, but Leonard of Three Rivers in Michigan said it is one more
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