Matt Tedder, Transportation Director - Stokes County Schools

Jim Cicalese from Montague Township School District

Patrick Rock - Transportation Director Mercer Island Schools

Wendy Moore and Jeff Williams - Genesee Joint School District, Idaho

Roland and Sam from Tempe Union High School District

Lori Davis, Wayne Trace Local Schools

Keith Dingwall, State College, PA

Rebecca Beard St Landry Parish School Board, Louisiana

Kim Nadolny, Tipp City EVSD Director of Transportation.

Chris Bobek - Woodland SD 50, CSBO

Paul Martin, Director of Transportation, Tahlequah Public Schools Tahlequah, OK

John Wiles, Director of Transportation, Shawnee Public Schools, Shawnee, OK

Nef Perez Lopez - Panama Buena Vista Union School District - Bakersfield, CA

Deb Kerr - St. Francis Public School District, St. Francis, WI- Superintendent

Jennifer Bowman, BIE School Supervisor-Superintendent Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School, Eagle Butte, SD.

Kristine Morris, Union ESD Superintendent, Phoenix, AZ.

Jamee Alston, Mgmt Analyst-Utilities/Energy, PGCPS - Upper Marlboro MD. Thank you for today's webinar. Happy to be here.

Marc Baiocco, Superintendent of Clarkstown CSD - New City, New York

Infastructure do's and dont's

Athena Gerzanic, Transportation Director, Carbon County School Dist.1 in Rawlins, WY

We have received grant funds...where do we begin?

The basics we would need to know about how to justify an EV purchase to taxpayers.

Best practices; tariff costs; cost differential from diesel to electric; charging in extreme cold weather temperatures; vehicle to grid opportunities.

Infrastructure and other considerations

What are the requirements to decommission current buses to purchase electric buses?

Infrastructure upgrade plans from electric service providers

How do the different companies plan to provide local mechanics to service the electric buses. Local dealers do not seem supportive without people to service the buses

Does it make sense for our small school district to move to electric busses. Our district is very rural

How to obtain outside funding (State/Fed) to help purchase buses and infrastructure.

How to move to EV as our transportation fleet in a smooth and cost effective manner.

John Lawrence, Superintendent Everton R-III, Everton, MO. Where do we go to fill out the grant for a possible electric bus?

How soon will 59-passenger bus options be available and what would their weight rating be?

What is the lowest outdoor temperature an electric bus is operable?

Federal grant program - Phase 2? This would be our first EA and first bus in the district as we are a neighborhood school

We ordered our first 2 electric buses that were due for delivery at best in August 2022 at worst October 2022. Our last update was possibly March 2023. What are the biggest supply chain issue that you all are facing? Not only with buses but with infrastructure items?

Jim, most programs require a 1" hole in the engine block and the frame rails being cut. Typically pictures of the process and vin plate are supplied to the funding program.

Pete Fenderson, Account Manager-Matthews Bus Alliance, Inc. Florida A Thomas Dealership

Many of the School District have Lot Mechanics to do a range of service items. What training is available for mechanics.

What is the average turn around between order submission to bus delivery?

In your experience, have school districts worked together to charge the buses when they are on long-range trips? Our buses will sometimes go 150+ miles oneway for athletic events. Have you seen an co-ops amongst school districts and what has been working?

Our team has concern about weather demands-cold climate and significant snow fall.

So, let's hear some of the negative aspects so we can make an informed decisions. I've only heard positives because I've only talked to groups like this that are trying to sell buses. Where can we get negative feedback also so we can make informed decisions?

If you are looking for negative feedback; you should talk to school districts that already have EV buses in their fleet. I currently have 2 Blue Birds and have been operating them for 1 year. They definitely have pro & cons.

what are the range of these buses

I need to hear people talk about Charger uptime/Downtime. No one talks about this. I read a study that was done in San Fran. where 25% of EV chargers were down at any one time...how do we operate when the chargers have a bad uptime?

We were told that the batteries have a life of 8 years. We have our buses on a 12-15 year rotation. What would it cost to replace batteries? Is that truly needed?

Accidents are inevitable. How are EV's paired in instances like this. Are multiple repair companies in place to handle repairs.

@Stacy Hooven- What district are you with?

Auxiliary heaters will render the ebus NON Zero Emission...won't fly in my neck of the woods.

I am the Transportation Supervisor with Atwater Elementary School District. We are located in the central valley of California.

Would just like to add... Battery degradation is impacted by established charging practices. Generally, the longer it takes to charge the batteries, the longer they should last. Level 2 is slower, but ‘gentler’ on the batteries than fast charging. Faster charging tends to generate more heat and this is a factor that can impact battery life. Other things that can impact battery life would be Vehicle-to-Grid energy transfers, etc.

Has any testing been done that will inform us how long it will take a Type C eBus to be fully engulfed in flame should the battery has a runaway combustion?

Some states have been given mandates for all districts and contractors to comply with converting fleets by specified deadlines, regardless of the size of the district.

IS the recommendation that cold weather climates provide indoor parking for EVs?

I live and work in a non rural and non economically challenged on an Island just outside Seattle but most grants are not available for us, When will be funds for grants be available to a more general area.

Thanks for that response Richard-I did hear the comments about the thermal regulation but was unsure if indoor parking would also be beneficial.

Will the charging infrastructure be standardized?