Swapping one diesel bus for an electric one reduces human health costs by $150,000 per year.
Standard diesel-sucking buses are actually some of the most eco-friendly ways to travel when compared to planes and cars. But to slow the Earth's overheating and further reduce toxic pollution, we gotta go electric. Now is a great time for electric buses due to improving technology, federal incentives, and ambitious transportation goals from some of the biggest states in the United States.
To adopt these cleaner alternatives, though, states and local municipalities must be prepared for higher initial costs. An e-bus may be 50% more expensive than a standard diesel option, and that's not including the cost of charging stations. Once over that initial speed bump, however, it's a smooth ride to savings.
A study in Austin, Texas, found that electric buses could save between $73,000 and $173,000 per unit over their lifetimes, since they make up for their higher sticker prices with massive savings in fuel and maintenance costs down the line.
The ecological savings electric buses offer are significant as well. In California, electric buses caused 70% fewer toxic emissions than their dirty-energy-burning counterparts. Every 1,000 e-buses saves an estimated 500 barrels of diesel a day.
So there is a strong case to be made for replacing transit diesel buses with electric ones at the end of their lives &#; but what about school buses?
It turns out that this market is a whole different beast. According to Macro Polo, electric school buses are often three times the price of diesel ones. Since school buses typically use less fuel than transit models, adopters of the electric upgrades stand to save less on fuel as well. There's still great reasons to push for electric school buses, but the road's not quite as easy.
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Electric school buses can be a breath of fresh air for school districts and students.
When Virginia dedicated $20 million toward electric school bus initiatives in , former Governor Ralph Northam explained that replacing just 75 diesel buses with electric models would prevent 670,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 36 million pounds of toxic tailpipe emissions from ever entering the air over the lifespan of the buses. That's like taking 3,500 cars off the road or saving 1.6 million gallons of fuel, WVEC reported.
Healthy air means healthy lungs. When diesel is burned it releases all kinds of toxins that can hurt vulnerable kids. Forbes links to studies showing how all that toxic exhaust impedes brain development and how those nitrogen oxides can trigger asthma attacks. These hazards disproportionately hurt children of color and make it harder to succeed in class.
Columbia University found that swapping one transit diesel bus for an electric reduces human health costs by $150,000 per year. The American Lung Association found that switching all New York's school buses to electric ones would generate $68.2 billion in public health benefits and prevent over 6,000 deaths.
Battery improvements, innovation from competition and increased funding, and savings as manufacturing ramps up are all working to make electric school buses more affordable and attractive.
Experts think that the lifetime cost of electric school buses will match diesel buses by the end of this decade. Lower fuel and maintenance costs mean that the electric fleet can save between $4,000 and $11,000 annually per bus, as reported by CleanTechnica.
Forbes puts it another way: " ... school districts are spending just 14 cents per mile on their e-buses compared to 49 cents per mile for diesel buses."
So far, places like California, Boston, and New York are working toward electrifying their fleets with ambitious speed. Colleges like Virginia Tech are introducing electric buses in large capacities, and many school districts are taking important steps toward cleaner air for students.
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The Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act of has set aside 5 billion dollars toward electric buses and clean transit. Recently, the Inflation Reduction Act added more funding to the mix.
World Resources Institute details some great ways to learn about funding pathways if you'd like to advocate for e-buses in your district.
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It&#;s all about the numbers. Today&#;s diesel prices have increased 72% over the $2.10 per gallon price fleet owners paid in . That&#;s a huge increase for communities that want to provide cost-effective transportation to the people they serve.
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For that reason, it&#;s no wonder that municipalities, public transit services, and school districts are considering a move to an EV fleet. Since more electric fleet vehicles are available now than ever before, purchasing EVs for municipal fleets and public transit vehicles is a wise move for organizations everywhere. If you&#;re a leader in the community transit space, here are some facts that can help guide your decision.
If you&#;re new to the commercial EV world, your idea of an EV might be limited to those sleek Tesla sedans you&#;ve seen cruising around town &#; maybe a Cybertruck or two. Your world is about to expand exponentially.
According to a list of commercial EVs compiled by Snohomish County Public Utility District (SCPUD) No. 1, 147 of the latest commercial EV models are available in the US today. The commercial vehicles range from classes 1-8 and include everything from commercial pickups, vans, and SUVs to semi-trucks, school buses, garbage trucks, and municipal buses.
That doesn&#;t even count the sedans your municipal leaders might use to get to their meetings and photo ops. No matter what types of vehicles your municipality or school district needs, they&#;re likely available in cost-saving EV versions.
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While the massive semis carrying transcontinental cargo mostly travel through vast expanses of sparsely populated lands, your municipal fleet earns its keep by rolling through your city streets, delivering services and transportation to your residents. If you use diesel-powered public transit and municipal fleets, they&#;ll emit a lot of toxic fumes in the process.
As a recent World Resources Institute article points out, you can reduce most of the &#;air pollution and negative health impacts&#; that go hand-in-hand with internal combustion engine (ICE) emissions when you electrify your city and local school bus fleets.
Your city won&#;t only save on fuel bills when you electrify your municipal fleet. You can leverage the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit to receive &#;a clean vehicle tax credit of up to $40,000,&#; depending on the vehicles you purchase, according to the Internal Revenue Service website.
Vehicles that weigh less than 14,000 pounds can receive a credit of up to $7,500, while heavier vehicles qualify for a credit of up to $14,000, the website indicates. Even plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) can receive 15% of a hybrid vehicle&#;s tax basis under this program.
Municipalities, school districts, and other tax-exempt organizations can receive the credit via a direct pay provision, as an American Cities Climate Challenge article states.
As our staff discovered during research for our new white paper, one Massachusetts school district that converted some of its buses to EVs took advantage of its summer break by connecting its buses to bidirectional chargers connected to the local grid. With bidirectional charging, EV owners can transfer some of their EVs&#; electricity back into the grid through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.
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Over two summer breaks, the school fed 10.78 MWh of electrical energy into its local grid, generating $23,500 in the process, according to Synop, the school&#;s V2G partner. Municipal transits with seasonal runs could also use idle buses to generate extra revenue with V2G during their downtimes if they electrify their fleets.
It&#;s not only savings on fuel your municipality will realize when you electrify your fleet. You&#;ll also see an immediate reduction in maintenance costs. As a recent ChargePoint post points out, &#;EVs have only around 20 moving parts compared to nearly 2,000 for a traditional vehicle.&#;
Fewer moving parts mean fewer needs to replace or repair them. EV transit vehicles don&#;t need oil changes or maintenance on their exhaust systems &#; they have none. Additionally, with EVs&#; regenerative braking systems, you&#;ll see less wear on your vehicles&#; brakes over time. Adding up all the maintenance costs your municipality won&#;t have to pay will likely result in a 40% average savings &#; as a US Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) study found.
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While EV batteries have a long useful life&#;about 15 to 20 years&#;eventually, your transit service will have to replace them, as a NationalGrid post reports. However, your municipality can still use them as backup power sources.
If your city garage utilizes solar panels as a renewable energy source, you can store energy in your transit vehicles&#; old batteries as a secondary power source. You could also use them to feed energy into your garages&#; and offices&#; heating and cooling systems, reducing utility costs in the process.
Like it or not, the &#;We&#;ve never done it that way before&#; mentality is typical among bureaucratic institutions, such as governmental bodies. As Tomorrow Today Global observes, &#;Red tape, onerous regulations, unnecessary systems, unthinking compliance and all other forms of bureaucracy suck the life out of creativity and innovation&#;people saying things like, &#;we&#;ve never done it that way before&#;&#;&#;
Instead of fighting it, use that mentality to your advantage. Drive innovation by pointing out that other cities have reduced costs and improved community services by electrifying their transit fleets. Indeed, if those municipalities did so, someone has obviously &#;done it that way&#; successfully.
Cities across the US have all reduced emissions while saving on expenses by replacing diesel-powered transit vehicles with electric ones. Other cities, such as Chapel Hill, NC, and many more, are moving toward EVs &#; with great success. When your city leaders realize they&#;re leaving money on the table by remaining with their diesel fleet, they&#;ll be more likely to consider the move themselves.
At the EV Charging Summit, you and your teams can learn about the most recent developments in large-scale EV adoption by public transit and municipal fleets. There, you can network with your peers and the world&#;s leading experts in fleet technology while you soak in all the information.
Don&#;t miss out on this opportunity. Reserve your place at the Summit today!