Tuesday, May 30, 2023

School official laments electric buses cost ‘5X more’ and are riddled with ‘performance issues’

 Heather Hamilton


"One Michigan school official admitted his district’s move to using electric buses was less than the government has touted it to be.

"Emile Lauzzana, the environmental sustainability director of Michigan’s fourth-largest school district, recently told the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education that the district’s electric bus fleet has had “a lot of downtime and performance issues.”

“ 'It’s been a tough 2 1/2 years with this program,” Lauzzana said.

“ 'We’ve been learning a lot about this technology,” Lauzzana also said. “Electric buses are approximately five times more expensive than regular buses, and the electrical infrastructure, which was originally estimated to be only about $50,000, give or take, for those four buses ended up being more like $200,000."

"Lauzzana explained the district attempted to utilize "Vehicle to Grid" interconnection, which helps push energy back to the grid when buses are not being used, but that the “technology was not working.” . . .

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