Last year, on the first day of school, I brought my kids to the bus stop and couldn’t hold my excitement in when I saw the bus arrive. It wasn’t just that my kids were finally going back to school…it was that the bus was ELECTRIC!
To me, school buses are a PERFECT application for EVs:
Defined routes
School buses go on pre-defined routes, which means EV models can be selected to match the route’s energy demand.
No smell
I’m sure everyone can recall the wonderful smell of conventional buses…and I’m sure no-one wants their children to be expose to those fumes.
No sound
Schools are already pretty noisy. Now add 10’s of school buses that leave at the same time. Interestingly, the EV model is so quiet they needed to add music when it leaves! I noticed this year that the music changed and is much softer.
Specs
Here are the technical specifications (from Lion website)
- Range: 100 to 155 miles (150 to 250 km) per charge
- Innovative single-speed electric powertrain
- 19.2 kW AC on-board charger
- Safe, high-performance batteries
- Fully assembled by Lion (chassis, body, battery packs)
- Up to 77 passengers
See my live reaction here.