The district received $9.75 million in November to purchase 25 electric buses through Clean School Bus Program (CSBP) grants and $5.9 million in federal funding this month to buy 15 electric buses through the same federal program.
The district will take many of its fleet of 40 diesel buses off the road and have 40 new electric buses from Ohio-based First Student delivered in August.
"Certainly, I think we are the first district in the state of Michigan to have all of our daily routes covered," said Bill Holcomb, a specialist in energy, technology and innovation for Pontiac schools. "It will be an amazing transformation for the district."
Chargers from Borg Warner will be delivered later this month and kept in storage while the district builds its electrical infrastructure with DTE Energy.
The new fleet can cover all daily routes in the district. A handful of diesel buses will be kept for trips beyond the 120-mile limit for fully charged buses.
The new electric buses can carry the same 77 passengers as diesel buses and weigh about 2,000 pounds more with batteries built into the undercarriage. The vehicles are just as reliable in cold weather, but tend to lose up to 20 percent of a battery charge when temperatures dip. It takes about three-and-a-half hours to go from 0 to 100 percent charge.
"We are looking at it as a whole approach on changing the ecology around the buses and what we can support with them," said Holcomb.
Once its bus yard is reconfigured with charging stations, the district will be reimbursed through the DTE Charging Forward program. Holcomb did not have an estimate for the cost of transforming its facilities.
"Before the new funding from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Michigan only had 17 electric school buses," said Phil Roos, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. "This grant program has greatly accelerated Michigan's transition to clean school buses."
Pontiac moved toward more energy efficient electric vehicles last year when they applied for the initial $9.75 million grant.
The district purchased two 10-passenger all-electric Ford E-Transit vans, which are used to transport the district's smaller athletic teams to events. Next week it will receive two electric cargo vans for food delivery services.
"We are looking at this as a holistic approach to going electric," said Holcomb. "The anticipation of the cost of total ownership of the electric vehicles are roughly about 45 percent that of a diesel vehicle."
A portion of the savings comes because electric vehicles have fewer moving parts and require less maintenance, and the cost of electricity to charge batteries is cheaper than diesel fuel.
According to Michigan Environmental Law and Policy Center, there are 17,000 diesel-fueled school buses transporting over 800,000 Michigan students each school year.
"A single electric bus can eliminate 1,690 tons of CO2 over its lifespan, the equivalent of taking 27 cars off the road," Michigan Chief Infrastructure Officer Zachary Kolodin said in a statement. "These buses will save schools money on maintenance costs while meaningfully advancing the state's climate goals,"
In addition to the bus yard, charging stations will be installed at Pontiac High School, the middle school and administration building.
Pontiac may also be able to make money from its new fleet.
"We are working with DTE on a pilot program for vehicle to grid technology," said Holcomb. "Since the batteries are bi-directional, power can go in and out of the batteries and the excess energy that we store in the buses and the batteries will be able to be sold back to DTE as revenue for the district."
The new fleet can also be used to help the community if needed.
"These buses are basically generators on wheels, so if there is a catastrophic event we can roll them into a neighborhood and people can charge their phones or small medical devices on the bus," Holcomb said. "It can help people in the community until the power comes back on."
Nationally, 67 school districts that applied for the Clean School Bus Program were awarded grants in 2023, totaling $965 million. That money is expected to fund more than 2,700 buses for 280 school districts across 37 states.
©2024 The Oakland Press, Sterling Heights, Mich. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
