Electric School Buses: The Future is Now
Electric School Busses are transporting 21st century students in 21st century technology. They offer a range of advantages over traditional diesel-powered ones, impacting multiple areas that help benefit students, the schools, and the environment. For starters, electric buses have zero tailpipe emissions. Unlike diesel buses that contribute to air pollution, electric buses release no harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides, contaminates classified under PM2.5, and greenhouse gasses. This improves air quality for students, drivers, and surrounding communities, especially in areas with high rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses. They also help lessen the transportation sector's contribution to climate change. This helps combat global warming and its long-term effects.
Reducing the exposure to harmful diesel fumes benefits students, drivers, and communities in by lowering the risk of respiratory issues like asthma, allergies, and lung cancer. Why wouldn't we want kids to be healthier? Electric buses also generate significantly less noise compared to diesel ones, creating a calmer and less stressful environment for students and the neighborhoods they serve. They also have fewer moving parts compared to diesel engines, leading to lower maintenance and repair costs over their lifespan. This can translate to significant cost savings for school districts in the long run. That, combined with the fact that electricity often has lower per-mile costs compared to diesel fuel, especially considering fluctuating fuel prices, makes the long term impact of electric buses even more appealing.
Recently, NY GOP members have attempted to stop existing legislation that requires schools to transition their bus fleet to zero-tailpipe emissions by 2025. Republican members of the New York Senate and Assembly were joined by education officials in calling on Democrats to pause the 2027 statewide implementation of an electric school bus mandate, as part of the broader 2019 Climate Act. They are concerned about the cost, feasibility, and impact on rural school districts, as well as the weight of the vehicles themselves. The lawmakers said a study by Consumer Reports found that electric vehicles have 80% more problems than conventional vehicles. According to Consumer Reports, that data was from their annual car reliability survey, which takes into account very specific problem areas per vehicle, like infotainment systems. To lump electric buses into the same group as consumer vehicles is misleading, and many of the issues in that survey are attributed to inexperienced drivers new to EVs, who may not have fully understood features like regenerative braking and charging speeds.
Additionally, the GOP’s arguments can be countered pretty easily:
First, the cost of electric school buses is coming down rapidly. A recent study by the Rocky Mountain Institute found that the cost of electric school buses is expected to reach parity with diesel buses by 2025.
Additionally, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is offering generous rebates to school districts that purchase electric buses. These rebates can help to offset the upfront cost of electric buses and make them more affordable for school districts.
In addition, electric buses are becoming increasingly reliable in cold weather. Many electric bus manufacturers now offer cold weather packages that include features such as battery pre-heating and insulation. These features can help to ensure that electric buses start and operate reliably in cold weather conditions. In fact, school bus manufacturer Blue Bird published a case study for their electric bus in Colorado as a proof of concept, to help alleviate concerns about winter weather performance. Another one was successfully completed in Michigan.
With diesel and gasoline, no one cares to think where the fuel for an ICE bus comes from, or that the profits often go to foreign owned entities and exporter countries.
Finally, the idea that EV fires are more common than ICE fires, pushed by the same anti-EV groups, are also incorrect. According to a study done by AutoInsuranceEZ, using NTSB data, found that “hybrid-powered cars were involved in about 3,475 fires per every 100,000 sold. Gasoline-powered cars, about 1,530. Electric vehicles (EVs) saw just 25 fires per 100,000 sold.”
On 2/29 Experts on ZEV fleets, including the EVA, Plug In America, Lynkwell and the EPA, discussed ways to take advantage of funding opportunities and prepare for the transition to EV school buses. Register to access the replay of the webinar!