Virginia to take Thomas Built Buses to school
The Daimler subsidiary was selected as the supplier for the 50 fully electric school buses of the initial phase of Dominion Energy’s electric school bus replacement program in Virginia. This will be the largest deployment of electric school buses in the USA yet.
The electric buses are of the Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley make by Thomas Built Buses, which use Proterra batteries. With a 134 mile range (manufacturer estimate), the buses should easily be able to reach their respective students and make it back to the lot without too much trouble. Charging is possible within about three hours using a 60 kW DC fast charging station, and the programme has made sure to select vehicles with V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) capabilities to help provide grid stability when the buses are not in use.
While the company will launch a pilot fleet of 50 vehicles, the plan is to heavily ramp up acquisition over the next years, with an announced 200 newly acquired vehicles to follow annually for the next five years. “We believe electric school buses to be the future of pupil transportation,” adds Thomas Built Buses CEO Caley Edgerly. “They offer quieter operation, lower operating costs and zero emissions to the benefit of students, parents, school districts and local communities.”
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