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San Benito High School District added an electric school bus to its fleet, and the vehicle was presented to the board of trustees—and available to ride—at its Feb. 27 board meeting. The 83-passenger bus, valued at $495,000, was fully funded through grants awarded by the Monterey Bay Air Resource District and the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project.
An additional $20,000 was awarded to the district by the Monterey Bay Air Resource District to upgrade its maintenance, operations and transportation (MOT) department’s charging station, which San Benito High School MOT Manager Kristy Bettencourt said is enough to cover the station’s expenditures.
The grant proposals were written in 2019 to obtain clean burning vehicles, Bettencourt said, citing the district’s goal to “improve our fleet while improving the air quality that surrounds our students and community.”
“This is the first LionD [all electric type D school bus] in the county,” she said. “It is a fully-electric bus that was made in the United States.”
” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1″ alt=”San Benito High School District was awarded the new, LionD, all-electric school bus in February through two grants. Photo by Jenny Mendolla Arbizu.” class=”wp-image-97252″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1176&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_9976-1024×768.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px”>
The bus features “rust-resistant composite body panels and a one-piece fiberglass roof that eliminates the need for rivets that become potential leak points,” according to the district’s Feb. 28 newsletter. Bettencourt said the bus does not have a wheelchair lift. The bus plays music while traveling under 18 mph, and can be heard in and outside of the bus to alert pedestrians of its motion, otherwise the vehicle would be silent because it does not have an engine.
Bettencourt said the bus takes four hours to fully charge.
“We plan to use about 30% charge to complete each route and then plug it in between routes to charge the batteries,” she said.
While the bus has a range of 150 miles, Bettencourt said its air brakes may lower this range, as well as when the bus uses its heater or air conditioner.
“Lion hasn’t made very many buses with air brakes, and this is one of the first ones that we’ve actually put on the road with air brakes,” she said.
She said the California Highway Patrol will be inspecting and certifying the bus this week, documenting how far it can actually go on a full charge, and thereafter will be “ready for student transportation.”
According to the district newsletter, “Trips to San Jose and beyond will be reserved for other buses until the mileage per charge is confirmed.”
“When the upgrade is complete, each bus will have its own charging station so that we can charge between routes,” Bettencourt said.
She noted that the district currently owns nine clean-burning diesel buses, one electric shuttle bus, one electric yellow bus, ten electric carts and three electric food service vehicles.
“We are waiting for the second electric yellow bus that should be here within the next six weeks,” Bettencourt said. “There will be another one after that. Each vehicle has been funded under separate grants as are the charging projects.”
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