S08EP04 – The wheels of the EV school bus go round and round

Plugged In

User-case is a term often associated with electric vehicles, as while some people’s needs and requirements of a vehicle can be perfectly suited to an EV, others will find major shortfalls in going all-electric.

The same is true for heavy trucks and buses, and one of the clear winning user cases for an EV bus is the variety that picks up and drops off school children. To prove that point, Ontario-based Pollution Probe teamed with several partners on the Calgary Electric School Bus Pilot Program.

The eight-month, real-world test saw an all-electric Blue Bird bus do daily routine routes for a number of months in Calgary. Most importantly, many of those school days were in the depths of a Prairie winter, so the findings are relevant for many school districts across Canada. Our guest on today’s Plugged In podcast is Cedric Smith, Pollution Probe’s director of transportation and one of the key players in the pilot program.

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