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First Student is working on transitioning its entire North American fleet of 43,000 school buses to electric.


buses are a success, he will look into expanding the program. “These five buses are going to be in Brooklyn,” said


Muirhead, whose company runs 2,500 buses in New York City and neighboring Nassau County. “The next step would be to bring [them] to the other boroughs. The end goal is to see how they run and put more electric buses on the road as they become more affordable.” Mike Backman, vice president for sales and market-


ing for Unique Electric Solutions (ESU), the conversion specialist working with Logan Bus, said conversion is a cost-effective alternative to buying new buses without losing any of the benefits or mileage. “The older technology will be removed, and the bat-


teries and electric motor will be installed with no loss of technology,” Backman said. “Transportation direc- tors usually have a lot of questions about maintenance. Electric motors produce more torque, and they are eerily quiet. The converted vehicles bring the same benefits as a new one, but there are no oil changes, no mufflers or tailpipes. People will agree the endgame is electrification.” AMPLY Power is also working with Logan Bus to help


32 School Transportation News • MAY 2021


the contractor manage its energy consumption. “On the charging side we are not only helping to reduce cost but also increase service levels, so the vehicles are ready to go at all times,” said Simon Lonsdale, AMPLY co-founder and head of sales and strategy. “We must be as reliable as the previous generation. We want to make sure we provide school districts with a certainty of fuel.” Lonsdale also cautioned that unlike diesel fuel, elec-


tricity is charged for time of use. If fleet operators are not careful, they could end of paying the equivalent of $12 for a gallon of diesel fuel. Muirhead said Logan Bus is still learning the new technology, but UES and AMPLY have been instrumental in bringing his team along. He also said he likes being the first company in New York City to break this ground. “We are all guinea pigs, the early innovators,” he said. “We want to do this because of the environmental impact. Commercial vehicles are different from private vehicles so we want to make sure they are viable from an operations logistics standpoint.”


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