Concord, N.H., celebrated the eventual arrival of electric school buses Wednesday thanks to federal programs designed to replace the diesel buses that have been polluting schoolyards and streets for decades.
The key word, however, is “eventual.”
The three buses probably won’t hit Concord streets until 2026, said School District Business Administrator Jack Dunn, because of global delays in getting electric transformers, a necessary part of building the stations to charge them. The transformer market has yet to recover from pandemic-era problems with the supply chain, a shortage compounded by a worldwide push to electrify transportation and other services.
The first electric school buses in New Hampshire ran four routes in Henniker this spring and were able to get going quickly because enough utility connections already existed at the SAU 24 garage. One of the Henniker buses came to Christa McAuliffe School for Wednesday’s event.
“Everybody was a little hesitant at first, it’s so new,” said Tracy Myers, operations manager at Student Transportation of America, which operates the buses for SAU 24. She said the buses have proven popular with drivers and students, and charging hasn’t been a problem.
“We were charging them during the day” between the morning and afternoon runs, “but we found we didn’t need to. They can do 70 miles a day on one charge,” she said. “Once a day is enough.”
Wednesday’s event saw U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, EPA officials and a host of Concord city and school officials gather to praise the new buses amid rueful memories of fossil-fuel buses.
“I remember very vividly that smell when I stood on the corner. … Little did I know that it was increasing the chance that I might have asthma, that I might get pulmonary disease as I get older,” said EPA Regional Administrator David Cash.
“That’s what these electric buses are all about … not just about the cost and energy savings, it’s also about the health benefits,” said Shaheen.
Officials estimate that even with New England’s expensive power, electric buses cost roughly 30 cents less per mile to operate over their lifetime. They cost roughly twice as much to buy as traditional buses, hence the need for federal support.
The United States is far behind China in switching its buses, both school and city, from diesel and gas to electricity but is starting to catch up. New Hampshire will receive $31 million under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install 110 electric buses and charging infrastructure at nine school districts. That includes a little over $1 million for Concord and $5 million for Pembroke, which has plans for 25 electric buses.
School buses are an ideal use for electric motors because they run predictable routes and return to the same place every day for charging, while the quiet operation and no tailpipe pollution are particularly valuable since they spend so much time around children.
The range between charges is still an issue. The Henniker buses have a maximum range of about 140 miles, according to Justin Maltese of W.C. Cressey & Son, which sells and maintains electric buses in the Thomas brand. The buses are slightly heavier than their diesel counterparts, he said: about 600 to 800 pounds more, which isn’t much considering that a Type C bus, the model used for most runs, weighs 32,000 pounds when full of passengers.
Because of the limited range virtually all school districts that have electric buses also keep some diesel buses for field trips, sporting events and longer rural bus routes, said Kevin Matthews, head of electrification for First Student Inc., which provides buses for a number of New Hampshire school districts.
He said the company has provided electric buses for 362 school districts across the county. Generally, he said, they install chargers in the 25 to 30 kilowatt range, which is faster than Type 2 charging that people install in homes but is at the “low end” of charging rates at DC fast charges such as Tesla’s.
“It’s different for everybody. The first thing is to get the utility to come in and assess what you need,” Matthews said.
Concord School District will be building the charge stations at the Combined Operations Maintenance Facility on North State Street, where many vehicles currently fuel up.
Four U.S. companies make electric school buses. The huge Chinese firm BYD, which has sold hundreds of electric city buses in this country and is in a race with Tesla to be the global leader in electric car sales, has recently entered the U.S. market for electric school buses.
Return to the Concord Monitor