(The Center Square) – Seven Michigan public school districts, the recipients of the first electric school buses in the state, reported mixed but mostly positive experiences about the vehicles since adopting them five years ago.
The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy released summaries of feedback on electric buses’ real-world performance, coming from public school districts in Ann Arbor, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Oxford, Roseville, Three Rivers and Zeeland.
Within the past two years alone, Michigan has directed more than $239 million in federal and state taxpayer dollars to electric school bus infrastructure.
One of the biggest initial concerns – electric bus performance in cold weather – proved manageable in each district, with four of the seven districts reporting no problems at all.
“They handle great in all types of weather,” one district told EGLE, which did not identify district names in its releases of the quotes. “Overall, they are a great bus to have in the fleet. Would like a few more to add for in-town routes. There is no noise inside the bus – no engine noise. Students really like the overall atmosphere of the bus.”
The other three districts experienced cold-related reduction in battery performance, but the issues were not serious enough to interfere with bus use. None of the districts reside in the Upper Peninsula.
Districts generally charged their buses once or twice daily, with a single charge requiring more than five hours. On average, chargers were out of service for 10.8 days each from July to December, and the buses needed maintenance work for 4.4 days each.
“Any driver that has driven the electric buses has enjoyed driving them,” a district reported. “The acceleration is not quite the same as a traditional gas/diesel bus, as well as braking. It definitely takes some getting used to.”
Supported by state and federal grants, operations and maintenance costs averaged out to $1,862 across the three districts that reported this figure. EGLE reported for comparison that the average fuel cost for diesel buses driven the same number of miles as the electric buses in the districts would have been about $4,924.
Although most buses presented no major problems, two districts reported initial issues with their buses, charging infrastructure, and technical support, with one lamenting “There has been quite a bit of warranty work done on both buses. They have just not been dependable like the diesels in our fleet. When they are running, our buses are fantastic. They are very quiet and easy to handle.”
The other district is still experiencing issues, with only some buses consistently in use.
“In general, the performance of the vehicles has improved slightly as the technical service support has increased from our partners. However, all buses have not been 100% in service as only some chargers provide support to the buses. With the amount of time in and out of service, there have been limited opportunities to capture this feedback. We are very interested in experiencing the benefits of the technology,” the district said.
More than 200 electric school buses are currently in use, making up less than 2 percent of Michigan’s 17,000 school bus fleet.
