If you’ve seen a school bus on the road lately, there’s a strong chance it was produced by Blue Bird Corp. Since the company opened in 1927, it has sold more than 550,000 buses around the world, 180,000 of which are in operation today. While most of those buses are powered by internal combustion engines, Blue Bird has also been ramping up its production of all-electric school buses.
The company says it was the first to market with an EV school bus in 1994, collaborating with Westinghouse Electronic Systems. It says it remains the only manufacturer of chassis and body products specifically for EV school bus applications in all three body configurations: Type A, C, and D buses.
School districts and local governments across America have taken notice, and are starting to jump on board. According to a recent press release from Blue Bird, the company has received orders for 400 EV school buses, some of which have already been delivered to customers throughout the U.S.
“We achieved almost three-fold growth in electric bus sales last year and are pleased to see fast-paced growth again as we start off 2021,” said Phil Horlock, President and CEO of Blue Bird Corp. “Our commitment to providing safe, clean-power transportation for our children is not new to us. We have more than 19,000 low-emissions Blue Bird propane buses on the road, four times the number of all of our competitors combined, transporting more than a million children to school each day. The shift to zero-emissions transportation is a reality and a commitment for us. With more than 7000 active customers today, we’re excited to be leading the industry move toward zero-emissions school buses.”
Blue Bird’s EV school buses are also poised to help school districts around the country get in line with new federal initiatives on climate change. With President Biden’s announcement of his 100-day plan to get children back to school, as well as his plan to replace the federal fleet with American-made electric vehicles, Blue Bird said it expects municipalities to incorporate more zero-emissions vehicles into their existing transportation infrastructure, which includes more than 500,000 school buses.
Boulder Valley School District recently took delivery of an electric school bus from Blue Bird. It is the first school district in Colorado to add a zero-emissions school bus to its student transportation fleet. A grant from Colorado’s Regional Air Quality Council helped make the purchase possible and provided the school district with a level-two charging station.
“Blue Bird is committed to safer and cleaner student transportation, and that is evident with more than 400 electric school buses on the road this year in North America and we expect that number to grow to over 1000 next year,” said David Bercik, Senior Vice president of Sales and Marketing. “We are helping school districts save thousands of dollars each year on fuel and maintenance, and prioritize safety. This electric school bus ensures a quiet ride for those on the bus, limiting driver distraction, and increasing their ability to hear passengers while improving human and environmental health by eliminating emissions.”
While reducing emissions from ICE buses is a top priority for public school districts like Boulder Valley, they may also achieve some significant maintenance cost savings by incorporating EV buses into their fleets. As Blue Bird points out, EV buses don’t require typical oil changes, fuel or air filters, transmission fluid changes, or almost any other fluid service. Add in the cost of fuel, and the potential big-budget reductions is real.
However, some maintenance is still required on EV buses, and for that, Blue Bird helps connect its school district customers with its local dealer network. Boulder Valley’s new electric bus will be maintained by Colorado/West Equipment, which also facilitated the sale of the EV bus to the district.
“We’ve been serving this area for 34 years and will continue to assist our school districts as they pave the way toward a clean transportation future,” said Jeffrey Koza, Owner of Colorado/West Equipment. “We’re proud to connect Boulder Valley School District with its first Blue Bird electric school bus and Colorado’s first electric school bus.”
Blue Bird has also built an “EV Ecosystem,” which helps dealers and school districts access funding, infrastructure, and training—and provides the operating assistance needed to save money while reducing emissions through the transition to EV buses.
As an example of its electric bus offerings, Blue Bird’s All American features multiple floor plans with passenger seating up to 84. Propulsion is provided by Cummins’ PowerDrive 7000ev. Its Dana TM4 SUMO motor is a six-phase permanent-magnet induction motor. The HV3000-6P model requires a water-cooled invertor to convert 600-V battery DC to AC current and is rated at 315 hp (235 kW) and 2176 lbft (2950 Nm).
The bus uses Freudenberg Group’s XALT Energy 155-kWh Li-NMC-G (Lithium-Nickel Manganese Cobalt-Graphite) modular 14-battery pack to get up to 120 mi (193 km) on a single charge, depending on terrain and driving habits. With a typical Level 2 AC charger, the bus can charge in about 8 h. With a new fast-charging option, which uses a CCS1 plug, its bus can charge in as little as 3 h.
Kevin Jost contributed to this article.
