The number of electric school buses on America鈥檚 roads is rising鈥攁nd as with any substantial change to school district operations, there鈥檚 no shortage of growing pains.
Several school districts in West Virginia got less money to cover electric school bus costs than they expected from the federal government after an apparent difference of opinion over the rural nature of their locations. Republican state lawmakers in New York are pushing to roll back the state鈥檚 mandate for schools to electrify their bus fleets by 2035. And in Maine, the state education department has urged districts to take some electric buses out of service after mechanical problems arose.
From one view, these developments seem to illustrate setbacks in the broader effort to replace gas-guzzling, toxic-chemical-emitting school buses with cleaner, more energy-efficient alternatives.
But supporters of school bus electrification aren鈥檛 deterred.
鈥淲ith any new technology there鈥檚 going to be hiccups in the rollout. School buses are so visible,鈥� said Keith Dennis, president of the Beneficial Electrification League, a nonprofit organization that helps utility companies prioritize electrification initiatives. 鈥淎nd for whatever reason, there鈥檚 some polarization around anything that has to do with investments in things that could be related to climate, because some people don鈥檛 even agree on that.鈥�
Electric school buses remain a distinct minority among vehicles transporting kids to school. Half a million school buses are currently on the roads across the nation. Of those, roughly 4,000 run on electricity, according to the . Districts have already committed to purchasing or leasing another 4,600 that will appear in the coming years, the institute reports.
Still, the growth in electric bus adoption has sped up in recent months. During each of the first two rounds of applications for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 Clean School Bus Program, school districts collectively sought roughly $1 billion in grants, more than double the available funding each time.
Six states have enacted binding measures that require some or all of the state鈥檚 school buses to be electric within the next 10 to 20 years. Eleven states also are requiring vehicle manufacturers to increase the proportion of their overall sales for low-emission vehicles like electric school buses, according to the , published this month. WRI is a global research nonprofit focused on sustainability and fighting climate change.
鈥淚t鈥檚 early days with a lot of the right ingredients in place that just need some time on the stove,鈥� said Sue Gander, director of the group鈥檚 Electric School Bus Initiative.
Getting funding support isn鈥檛 always straightforward
Some districts have been wary of investing in electric buses because they cost more upfront than traditional diesel-powered school buses. Districts will eventually realize cost savings by minimizing fuel costs, but those may take years to materialize.
All told, more than $9 billion in state and federal funding is available for school districts looking to electrify their buses, according to the WRI. But getting enough money isn鈥檛 always easy.
Jim Lopez, the assistant superintendent for transportation for the Harrison County school district in West Virginia, decided to seek federal subsidies to kick off his district鈥檚 investment in electric buses. The EPA granted for its electric bus grants and rebates to hundreds of low-income and rural districts, allowing them to receive a larger grant than districts outside the priority category.
The EPA didn鈥檛 extend that option to the Harrison County schools, but Lopez鈥檚 team applied to self-certify as a priority district. In early January, he heard good news鈥攖he EPA had approved his request and was planning to provide a $5,000-per-bus grant.
But a few days later, he got different news: the EPA had made an error, and the district was no longer deemed priority.
With the help of the , Lopez and his colleagues in two other districts that experienced the same fate made the case to the EPA to reconsider. But so far, the agency hasn鈥檛.
Now Lopez has a tough choice to make. The district鈥檚 margins are tight, and shouldering an unexpected cost could be troublesome.
On the other hand, the state of West Virginia provides districts with annual transportation funding based on its calculation of the value of their fleets, meaning a district with a partially electric fleet would be eligible for additional state funds.
鈥淭he electric school buses are worth three times what a normal school bus would be,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淲e had just hoped to delve into the electric school buses for a reasonable price.鈥�
Worries emerge about rushing the transition
New York was one of the first states to pass a law requiring school districts to convert their entire school bus fleets to run on electricity by 2035. Starting in 2027, districts will be prohibited from buying buses that run on diesel or anything other than electricity.
A group of Republican state lawmakers have recently pushed back against this law, however. They, along with groups representing some rural schools in the state, argue that the state should prioritize electrifying buses run by other agencies, such as public transit authorities, before requiring school districts to foot the bill for these costs. They鈥檝e also questioned the efficacy of electric school buses for safely and efficiently transporting students.
Under the lawmakers鈥� , the electric school bus rollout would be delayed until 2045.
The debate has come up at a time when many of the state鈥檚 school districts, particularly rural ones, are bemoaning a drop in state aid that Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has said is prudent following the infusion of federal money districts received during the pandemic.
Similar policies in other states have seen far less backlash, Gander said, so she鈥檚 not concerned about broader pushback to policies like New York鈥檚. Plus, New York鈥檚 voters backed the electric bus transition when 67 percent of them approved a in November 2022 that includes $500 million for electric school buses.
鈥淚t just seems kind of opportunistic for a handful of politicians to try to make this be something that it鈥檚 not,鈥� Gander said.
Mechanical problems may be inevitable
Electric school buses will also become de rigueur in Maine in the coming years. Three-quarters of the state鈥檚 buses must be electric by 2035, .
But several districts in the state have recently reported significant mechanical issues with newly purchased electric buses manufactured by Lion. One bus driver recently veered into a snowbank after the power steering system on his electric bus failed, the .
Other Maine districts have reported issues with inaccurate wording, loose or malfunctioning parts, and leaking windshields, media outlets have reported in recent weeks. It鈥檚 not clear whether the problems stemmed from the fact that the buses run on electricity or from some other factor.
The company plans to conduct an inspection of all the malfunctioning buses and continue working with affected Maine districts even after they鈥檙e back on the road, said Nate Baguio, Lion鈥檚 senior vice president of commercial development.
Lion has manufactured 1,600 electric school buses that are operating in many states, Baguio said.
鈥淚t is different in an industry that largely hasn鈥檛 changed in 70 years,鈥� he said. But malfunctions aren鈥檛 only an issue with electric buses: 鈥淚f you go to any school bus yard in the country, the diesel vehicles will have service issues, too.鈥�
Some concerns about electric bus operations include the stamina of their battery life in cold weather and traverse long distances in rural areas without needing to be recharged.
These are legitimate issues, and the Maine situation warrants additional scrutiny of electric bus manufacturers鈥� practices, Dennis said. Lion is among a slew of companies that are new to producing electric school buses.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it means that electric buses can鈥檛 or don鈥檛 work, I think it means that the manufacturer screwed up,鈥� Dennis said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 good for them. That doesn鈥檛 mean electric cars can鈥檛 have brakes that work.鈥�
The performance of electric buses in one place doesn鈥檛 inherently mirror the experience in other places. School officials recently told that their electric buses have been operating just fine in temperatures dozens of degrees below zero.
Despite the concerns, demand for electric buses and development of the infrastructure to support them are continuing to grow.
Dozens of school board members and local government leaders recently urged Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, to . And school districts are among the beneficiaries of a recently announced in electric vehicle charging systems.
Gander said she鈥檚 looking for ways to spotlight success stories of electric buses to help others who aren鈥檛 as far along. Districts might have to adjust their route timing so buses have adequate time to recharge between trips, and train drivers on how to operate electric buses. But it鈥檚 possible to achieve those things, she said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really about telling the stories and acknowledging, hey, this is different than what you鈥檙e used to,鈥� she said.
