Liberty is celebrating National Drive Electric Week – observed this year on Friday, Sept. 27, through Sunday, Oct. 6. The annual nationwide event raises awareness about the many benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more.
When you look at the numbers, it’s no surprise that school districts across the country are getting charged up over the benefits of electric school buses. Liberty has worked to stay current with this trend, partnering with districts to provide the infrastructure to make the transition possible.
According to the Electric School Bus Initiative, school districts in 49 states have committed (received funding or made an agreement to purchase) to more than 12,160 electric buses, which serve approximately 200,000 students. A recent study by Harvard researchers found that replacing a 2017 diesel bus with an electric counterpart could total more than $84,000 in total benefits – including savings from reduced fuel and maintenance costs to health and environmental impacts.
School districts in Fair Play, Missouri, and South Lake Tahoe, California, are among those making a transition from diesel to electric buses.
The Fair Play R-II School District has two electric buses now in service, making them among the first to be deployed in Liberty’s Central Region.
The district received funding for the purchase of the electric school buses through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The district was awarded $790,000 to purchase two buses.
“We worked with the school district from start to finish, helping them with their grant application and making sure they had the proper chargers installed,” said Derrick Shadwick, Manager, Transportation-Electrification and Sustainability. “They now get the benefit of overnight charging, which is just 3 cents per kWh.”
The new LionC buses can each carry up to 77 passengers and have a range of up to 155 miles per charge. In addition to sporting zero emissions, the buses represent an 80 percent energy cost reduction and a 60 percent reduction in maintenance costs compared to their diesel counterparts.
The Lake Tahoe Unified School District has deployed five electric buses, and more are on the way, made possible in part by grant funding through the California Energy Commission’s School Bus Replacement Program.
“We have a statewide mandate to move toward electrification,” said Matt Newbery, Key Account Manager II in Liberty’s West Region. “School districts are leaning in hard, so we’re focused on bringing our expertise to the charging side.”
Newberry said Liberty helped install eight chargers at no cost inside the district’s bus depot. Their five electric buses – a combination of Blue Bird T3RE (which can accommodate up to 84 passengers) and Micro Bird G5 (up to 30 passengers) are able to charge to 100 percent between morning and afternoon routes. The district expects to fund the installation of eight to 10 additional charging bays by the end of 2024.
To learn more about Liberty’s EV programs, click here (Central Region) or here (West Region).