OPINION:
As the new school year starts, 26 million children are boarding school buses, and an increasing number of these buses are electric. While some see this as a win, not everybody is enthusiastic.
Despite their touted benefits, electric school buses are more expensive than diesel alternatives, less reliable in cold and hot weather, have limited range and are difficult to charge in rural school districts.
A July report from the inspector general in Montgomery County, Maryland, concluded that the county did not receive 206 electric buses on schedule between 2022 and 2024 and expects to receive only 30 of 120 buses next year. The county also did not charge the contractor the $372,000 in fees to which it was entitled to because of the delay. These errors led to millions of dollars in wasteful spending, the inspector general found.
This is after a report last December from the Center for Effective School Operations stated: “The true costs and operational implications of the decision to proceed with fleet electrification have not been well understood. … The result is a partially electrified fleet that requires more operational adaptation to be successful, and looming liabilities that must be mitigated before further conversions should be considered.”
Nevertheless, federal and state governments are funding these new buses through mandates and over $6 billion in subsidies, highlighting supposed health and environmental benefits. As a result, the past few years have seen a surge in the purchase and operation of electric school buses, or ESBs.
The most common school bus typically costs about $100,000 for a diesel-powered version. Electric buses range from $281,000 to $448,000, making them up to four times as expensive.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program, established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, has allocated 60% of its $5 billion fund for school bus replacement so far. At the state level, California leads in funding through its Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project, which has allocated $200 million to electric school buses so far.
The number of committed ESBs, buses that have been ordered, have been delivered to the customer or are in operation, has surged from 2,334 in 2021 to 12,196 in 2024.
Currently, 235,000 of the 26 million students who ride the bus are taking electric school buses, and some have found them unreliable.
Parents expect dependable school bus service, yet ESBs have proved questionable in winter conditions. In temperatures of 25 degrees Fahrenheit or below, their range decreases by 33%, according to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. At zero degrees, ESBs can lose up to 80% of their range.
In a pilot program in the Bay Shore Union Free School District in Long Island, New York, Blue Bird electric buses were supposed to run 120 miles per charge. In winter, however, their range dropped to 70 miles per charge — a 42% loss.
On the other side of the weather spectrum, temperatures of 80 and higher also reduce the efficiency and performance of the buses.
ESBs are not only unreliable in certain weather conditions but also impractical in rural school districts. For example, in rural parts of Northern California, the lack of charging infrastructure and the limited vehicle range relative to the distance needed to travel make ESBs impractical.
The high cost and poor reliability of electric school buses should raise concern about mandates from state governments and financial incentives from Uncle Sam. California requires all new school bus purchases in 2035 or later to be electric. In New York state, all new school buses purchased starting in 2027 must be electric, and by 2035, the whole fleet must be fully electric.
Eleven states have also adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, which requires manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles — including school buses — to sell zero-emission vehicles as a growing percentage of their sales annually or potentially face civil penalties.
State mandates and federal subsidies should not be wasted on costly, unreliable electric school buses. Parents expect their children to board buses that are safe and dependable in all weather conditions and regions, whether they run on diesel, electricity or clean natural gas. Electric buses haven’t yet reached this standard.
• Austin Gae is a research associate at the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment in Domestic Policy at The Heritage Foundation. Andrew Weiss is a research assistant at Heritage.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.