Electric School Buses

by Brad Grisley

January 14, 2025

New York State has mandated that, starting in 2027, school districts will be required to purchase zero emission school buses. They will no longer be able purchase diesel or gas buses. In addition, by 2035 school districts’ entire school bus fleets will be required to be zero emission. This has created quite a stir among school boards and administrations around the state.

Some school districts are well on their way in this transition. Many already have several electric buses and at least in one case their entire fleet has been converted. Many however, especially in rural districts, have simply refused to begin this transition. Unfortunately, like many topics in our nation these days the purchase of electric vehicles has been politicized.

Besides politics, the other main reason for the hesitation is the purchase price of an electric school bus.  The electric bus is 2 ½ to 3 times as much as a diesel bus. These districts seem to be ignoring the fact that there is significant state and federal money to assist in the purchasing of these buses. These incentives are enough so that in some cases the electric option is essentially free. In most cases the incentives make the cost of purchasing the electric bus less than their fossil fuel counterpart.

Electric buses have some significant advantages over their diesel and gas counterparts. For one thing, they potentially emit no greenhouse gases. This, of course, depends on how the electricity is generated for charging the buses. One solution to that would be for the district to install solar panels on their property to facilitate bus charging thereby being truly zero emission.

Another advantage is the maintenance and fueling costs. Electric buses have 90% less moving parts so their maintenance cost is much less. Even if the district buys their electricity from the grid the cost is less than 1/5 the cost of diesel.  This makes the total ownership cost lower still.

Diesel buses also emit harmful particulates into the atmosphere. Rochester was voted the tenth worst place for asthma nationwide, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America 2023 rankings.  Diesel exhaust is a major contributor to this. Unlike exhaust from say, a coal power plant (also bad for human health), it is delivered in close proximity to people near their homes, on the streets and sidewalks where they live. Children are especially sensitive to the fine particles, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants that comprise diesel exhaust.

The technology of electric vehicle batteries continues to advance at a rapid pace. There also appears to be big leaps in battery dependability, time to charge and safety coming in the not-too-distant future. Some sources say electric cars will have price parity with gas cars by 2026. Larger electric vehicles such as buses will surely be not far behind. The transition to electric vehicles of all sorts seems inevitable.