Calhoun County Schools began the Wednesday’s School day having their first test drive of an electric school bus. The Bus was provided free of charge to the school for the next six weeks by GreenPower Motor Company allowing most of the drivers to test drive the bus on their individual runs. First Calhoun driver to test the bus was Kenny McCumbers. His route not only includes picking up children for school, but also running the Career Center Route both morning and afternoon.
According to the Green Power Motor Company their zero-emission, all-electric school bus, is the safest, most reliable school bus on the market and the only vehicle to utilize a monocoque truss(t) chassis. Equipped with the largest standard battery pack available for student transportation, the BEAST features an industry-leading driving range capable of 150 miles. The BEAST also includes standard features like air ride suspension, pass-through storage, and seating for up to 90 students. The 102 inch wide, 40 ft long bus was designed for the roads of California, not West Virginia. According to Mark Nestlen, of the GreenPower Clean Bus Pilot Program, a bus built for West Virginia roads will have a much higher road clearance and a slightly higher head clearance in the bus interior than the one being test driven.
Attending the Press conference was l-r: Michael Fitzwater, Jenna Jett, Kelli Whytsell, Mark Nestlen and Senator Ben Queen.
Eighteen WV School Districts have tested the GreenPower Bus so far in West Virginia with high ratings from drivers according to the company. The bus can travel 140 miles before needing recharged. This would be an issue for Kenny McCumbers run because of the high mileage he runs daily with his regular and career center route. Because of that he will have to do his morning run, career center run, bring the bus in for a charge and exchange it for another bus to run the afternoon career center route and then pick the electric bus back up for his evening regular school run. That, along with his concern for the low chassis, high seat backs and additional paper work required for the project, didn’t excite McCumbers too much about the experiment.
Nestlen’s response to McCumbers concerns was that the other county drivers shared his concerns as well, until they experienced the bus for themselves. .
One bus driver expressed concern about what he might now hear on the bus. The bus makes virtually no sound when in operation with the exception of chimes that alert drivers and people out side the bus of movement. The bus has security cameras installed in multiple areas, but there was still reported “dead spots” in some areas due to the very high seat back and small children.
Senator Queen loved the initiative stating that the Electric bus will bring new career opportunities and business growth for West Virginia.
Mr. McCumbers took the press crew on a short test drive which captured the attention of students outside. Especially when the he showed the short turn radius of the bus in the parking lot. Much less turning space required than that of a traditional bus.
Bus features are:
- Classification:Heavy-duty class 8, Type-D
- GVWR:42,990 lbs.
- Payload Capacity:13,790 lbs.
- Front Axle Rated Loading:14,330 lbs.
- Rear Axle Rated Loading:24,250 lbs.
- Length:40 ft
- Width:102 inches, widest in the industry
- Height:138.5 inches
- Charging:Dual (AC/DC)
Level-2, J1772, 19 kW, 220 V, 10.5 hrs
DCFC, CCS-1, 61 kW, 3.25 hrs
Wireless DC* (option), 60 kW, 3.50 hrs - Battery Size:194 kWh, 6 total packs
- Seating Configurations:Front-facing bench seating, 15 rows, 2 benches per row, 3 seats per bench
- Max Seating Capacity:91 (with driver)
- Range:140 miles
- Fuel Economy:23 mpge, 1.5 kWh/mi, 0.67 mi/kWh
- Top Speed:68 mph
- Motor Power:350 kW max
- Transmission:Direct Drive, No Transmission
- Battery Chemistry:LiFePO
- Brake System:Disk
- HVAC:75,000 BTU/h, front, rear, electric
- Passenger Door:Electric, 36 wide, 34-inch opening
- Electric Door:Yes
- ADA Lift:Yes
Absolutely awesome! It just won’t be able to travel on any of the secondary roads with its wheelbase and ride height. So, straight roads with no steep hills and sharp turns you’re golden. Sounds like Calhoun County to me. Also, it’s nearly 2X the weight of the Republican busses. It weights more than a logging truck to wreck your roads. At least it’s free.
Absolutely awesome! It just won’t be able to travel on any of the secondary roads with its wheelbase and ride height. The lift they’re talking about will needbto be at least 9″…did anyone ask the weight of these batteries? If like normal EVs they would be 40-45% of the vehicles weight. I’m not a physicist, but that’ll probably create some stability issues. So, straight roads with no steep hills and sharp turns you’re golden. Sounds like Calhoun County to me. Also, it’s nearly 2X the weight of the Republican busses. It weights more than a logging truck to wreck your roads. At least it’s free. Batteries in EVs are made from “rare earth” minerals…let that sink in. There are predominantly mined in…wait for it…China (I wish I could spell it like he says it) controls 80% of the Global Market for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) such as cobalt that is mined in the Congo which is controlled by Communist China.
Rare earth metals are needed to produce the magnets that are used in everything from wind turbines to hard disk drives to electric vehicles. Everything from a smartphone to a Tesla has a substantial need for these elements, while US military technology is also dependent on them, with the F35 fighter jet requiring 417kg of rare earth metals.
China is by far the largest producer of usable rare earth metals, accounting for 60% of rare earth mining, 85% of rare earth processing and 90% of high-strength rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing.
Democrats have a unique way of combating climate change. They move 90,000 tons of earth in open mines with large fossil-fueled tractors/trucks, to get one car’s, not a bus, worth of rare elements. They then ship it by fossil-fueled cargo ship to the USA where we make an electric vehicle which is charged by a cable that runs back to a central power plant that often uses fossil fuels to generate the electicity. The Batteries have a half life compared to fossil-fuel burning vehicles. The batteries cost 1/4+ of the vehicles’ original value to replace and then what to do with the toxic waste?