As SPURR recently reported, school bus electrification is on the rise, powered in part by new federal funding totaling from the EPA. A staggering $900M, reports Canary Media, has been provided to fund the mission of converting public school buses to electric vehicles.
Per CleanTechnica, 12,164 buses across districts are included in commitments to electrification since 2012, marked by a distribution of awarded funding to respective districts.
Here are some key numbers to note, courtesy of this insightful piece from CleanTechnica:
- Roughly 200,000 students take an electric bus to school
- More than 67% of committed districts utilize funding from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program
- This program awarded over “$900 million for nearly 2,300 electric school buses to 365 school districts in its first round of rebate funding in 2022”
- $1 billion more was added to Clean School Bus Program funding via grants in January 2024
- From this, 2,700 electric school buses were added to the fleets of 270 school districts
- “A third round of rebate funding announced last month selected nearly 500 school districts to receive $900 million in funds to replace diesel-fueled school buses with 3,177 electric buses.”
Per WRI, 49 of 50 U.S. states already have electric school bus commitments, and California leads with “with over 2,300 committed electric buses across the state, of which nearly 70% are delivered or operating. This is more than five times as many buses as the next leading state, Illinois, with 418 commitments.”
SPURR will continue to report on the emerging school bus electrification movement, how it may impact our customers, and the new opportunities available to utility buyers and providers following these developments. Stay tuned to learn more as school bus electrification continues to grow!