How does it work in sub-zero temperatures? Range, charge capacity, batter wear, etc.
EV is an interesting idea for the school bus application, but a couple of years ago we had 30 days straight where we didn’t get about -30F.
There is an electric bus currently used in Alaska for a rural route, using the heater to keep the interior up around 50F roughly halved the range.
So if something happens……
That’s pretty scary.
Named by Drop Dead Fred
School buses are a perfect vehicle to go EV. They run (relatively) short, consistent routes twice a day and unless there’s a school trip or something, sit idle the rest of the time. I almost would’ve preferred if the EV transition we’re thoroughly within now would’ve started with things like this and the Rivian van and that god awful looking new USPS truck
In small municipalities that bus makes 9 trips a day. High-school, middle school and am/pm kindergarten.
It’s a much better use case than Tesla’s idiotic electric semi truck, where the best thing they could do is get to accelerate quickly, something that is needed by exactly zero truckers.
Pretty sure reducing the emissions of the largest road-based emissions producer is an important thing to work towards
Most government fleet vehicles should be electric
What do you think? Rolling blackouts to keep the shitty grid intact while still charging all of these? or fix the grid and pass the cost onto the consumer?
Fleets should have been hybrids for the last decade transitioning to plug in electric hybrids as electric charging infrastrure was deployed.
Mail Vans would also be a great way to start on Hybrids.
Idle while on electric. And use gas when needed
That program is already in place in most areas. It will take time is all. As each ICE vehicles ages out/needs replaced, it will be replaced with an EV type. Cannot waste the inventory already held, so it will be a process done over time.
I almost would’ve preferred if the EV transition we’re thoroughly within now would’ve started with things like this and the Rivian van and that god awful looking new USPS truck
It should have, but fossil fuel lobbyists convinced Republicans to force USPS to prefund retirements so they couldn’t afford the transition.
all the big buses in the city i live in are electric now (maybe not all but 75%? and public transportation is mainly used)
I think your overlooking the part where the buses go back to the terminal to charge all at the same time and require a small nuclear power plant.
It isn’t exactly an efficient use of limited resources (battery cells) to put a 300 mile battery in something as large as a school bus that only drives short distances every day. That could be up around 300 kWh. What if it only drives 30 miles per day the vast majority of days? It’s only using 10% of the total pack capacity daily. Not saying buses shouldn’t be electric, just that maybe they should be plug in hybrids with smaller batteries and a gas range extender for long trips.
The efficiency could be improved if the battery served as grid storage while not in use, but still not optimal because it’s not permanently attached to the grid and may be on the road during peak hours.
Most rural buses are On the road for at least 4 hours a day. 45-1 hr trips to school are common.
And that assumes all ages in the same bus.
considering the undercarriage design- do you think they find a way to just slide the batteries in and push out depleted ones.
Make a deal with a family that lives 150 miles out - (This is rural America) to set up an automated battery swap station.
Bus pulls up into a bay- batteries get pushed in and slide the dead ones out, and the next day reverse.
Batteries are heavy has fuck. 60kwh batteries weigh over 1000lbs.
Swapping them in and out is quite complicated on top of that.
Also, instead of engine noise it constantly blares Superbeast by Rob Zombie to let people know it’s there. Basically, the whole bus was designed by Otto from the Simpsons.
I was a school bus driver for 5 years. I had a 45 minute drive to the first students house. You bet your ass I blasted metal while alone on the bus. But as soon as I picked up a student I turned on “todays hits” or whatever on pandora.
Alternate Superbeast with Dragula.
What’s up little duuuudes
My name is Otto and I like to get blotto
At night, he rides it across a post-apocalyptic wasteland and fights zombies.
What’s it cost?
Probably $400K-$500K. About 4x diesel. They nee to get the price down to 1.5-2x range and then they will sell with just from market demand.
The cost for a Type D BEAST school bus without a wheelchair lift is $370,000, and with a wheelchair lift, it’s $395,000.
About tree fiddy
Betcha it doesn’t live up to expectations: signed a diesel mechanic.
rural school districts think gas fumes are patriotic.
In my rural area people have self made bumper stickers saying “fuck electric cars” and one person referred to mine as a “f**got-mobile”. This is the same kind soul I see with multiple flags planted in his truck bed like “trump won” and “let’s go Brandon”, etc. so good luck. Maybe you can make it play skynard as it drives by, so as not to raise suspicion.
Anyone else terrified by the idea of a motor vehicle accident where another car hits the battery bank on this thing immediately cooking a school bus full of children?
A heavier bus to more effectively destroy already failing rural infrastructure. This is nonsensically stupid.
Didn’t this exact article frontpage on this sub last week?
Wont weight be a huge factor? It’ll ruin the local streets it drives on.
God I’m curious about the long term health effects of inhaling diesel fumes and dust every day for like an hour from elementary to high school. The kids with a stay at home mom who got a car ride didn’t have to breath as much.
This would improve respiratory health and even long term academic performance.
Can I go back in time? Maybe this won’t have to make me ride an hour each way on the bus. First to pick up, last to be let off. 3 miles from the school.