Electric School Buses Take to the Road: Real-World Results

With the “big three” school bus manufacturers all unveiling electric school buses or concepts, 2017 was apparently a tipping point for acceptance of the technology in pupil transportation.

Blue Bird was awarded a $4.4 million grant in 2016 from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop an electric school bus, and debuted two models — a Type C and a Type D — last year, and brought them to market in 2018. (Micro Bird also unveiled its new electric-powered Type A Micro Bird G5 Electric school bus in 2017. The bus has been undergoing testing for certification and the manufacturer expects to deliver a number of units by the end of September.)