Bethlehem CSD’s five electric school buses so far are among the very few in New York state that aren’t operated in or around New York City.
Droog emphasized that optimizing bus range
requires starting slowly and gradually increasing speed, transitioning smoothly between accelerating and de- accelerating. Drivers should anticipate the need to slow down and
stop, which will allow the bus to do the regenerative braking it is designed to do to help recharge the batter- ies, he added. He pointed out that there are two levels of regenerative braking: the D or drive mode—the standard regenerative braking—and L or low mode, a stronger regenerative braking mode which puts more electricity back into the batteries for longer distances. On the impact of school bus EV torque on tires,
Bridney Jordan, Continental U.S. Truck Tire’s product marketing manager, noted that “additional torque will inevitably cause the tires to wear more quickly, reducing overall mileage,” which makes choosing the correct tire “even more important.” Continental’s drive tires are designed to handle torque
and have additional tread depth and lug-like design, unlike steer and trailer tires, Jordan commented, adding the drive patterns of its tires also help to displace the en- ergy from torque promoting even wear and durability.
Meanwhile, Nancy Jensen is a California state-
certified school bus driver trainer and a consultant who formerly worked with the Twin Rivers Unified School District in Sacramento, which has been running electric buses longer than any other district in the country. The torque doesn’t cause the heat—it’s the spinning of the motor, she noted, adding that “you’re asking a lot of electronics to pass through a very small space. They’re going to heat that up.” While deceleration provides regenerative braking, ag-
gressive acceleration for long periods of time uses more energy and produces heat, Jensen said. “The battery can start to overheat because you’re ask-
ing it to pass power back and forth really fast,” she added. “Regenerative braking feels a lot like an engine brake on a diesel vehicle, but it’s having a different effect. It does slow the vehicle, but it’s also putting power back in. The power extends your range. If you know how to effective- ly time your lights, anticipate lights and speed bumps and some of the other things that are in the environ- ment you drive in, you can put miles back on that bus to extend your range.” Jensen said she advises school bus drivers to be more “steady and gentle” with acceleration, as that also affects
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