The Wethersfield Board of Education made history at its October meeting when members approved purchase of the school district’s first three all-electric school buses from Lion Electric Company.
The purchase includes one 77 passenger LionC bus with 23 seats removed to make room for a chair lift and space for wheelchairs.
The cost is $220,000 and comes from a Renew America’s Schools grant funded by President Biden’s bi-partisan infrastructure bill to promote implementation of clean energy initiatives in K-12 public schools. The funds for one electric bus were included in a $20 million package awarded to a coalition of 15 Illinois schools, including Wethersfield, which has received $890,00 of the total amount.
The grant is also funding upgrades at each school to support electric school buses. At Wethersfield that has involved plans for installation of solar panels on the bus barn and refitting the building with additional support and charging stations for the buses.
The district also received a grant from the EPA for electric buses that will be used to purchase two additional LionC buses; the actual cost is $200,000 each, with full 77 passenger capacities.
With the federal Department of Energy and EPA funds, along with transfers from the working cash to transportation fund, which will be reimbursed by the state, all three buses will have a net-zero cost to the district, along with the costs of converting the bus barn into a self-generating microgrid with solar panels and charging stations.
Superintendent Dr. Andrew Brooks said if all goes as planned, the barn and buses should be in place and ready to go by the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.
He said the electric buses will each travel about 110 miles before needing to be recharged and will be used initially for town routes. They will replace the three oldest buses in the district’s current seven-bus fleet. Those buses, all still operable, will be sold and the money put toward purchase of the new electric vehicles. The district has also joined a statewide network of schools where the buses could be recharged on long trips. Likewise, electric buses from other schools making long trips could stop to be recharged at Wethersfield.
According to its website, Lion Electric is the only manufacturer of purpose-built commercial zero emission buses and trucks. Lion designs, manufactures and assembles many of the components of its vehicles, including chassis, battery packs, cabin and powertrain.
Based in Canada, Lion Electric has a facility in Joliet which will be an advantage here if service is needed, which Dr. Brooks said is unlikely.
Dr. Brooks said each of the current gas-powered buses now costs the district around $6,500 a year in maintenance and operating expenses, and replacing gas with electric buses will result in a huge savings in transportation costs.
The new yellow electric school buses are 40 feet long, weigh 15.5 tons, are equipped with a 19.2 KW AC on board charger, high performance batteries, and have a top speed of 60 mph, according to Lion’s website.
