By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: Blue Bird Corporation, whose iconic logo you’ve probably seen on a school bus near you, is diving bravely into the future by unveiling the electric versions of its Type C & D configuration school buses.
- According to CleanTechnica, Blue Bird is reportedly the only U.S. company offering electric buses in those configurations.
- You could see these buses delivering your kids to school as soon as this fall.
SolarWakeup’s View: Pretty soon, you may not hear the churning of diesel engines as school buses stop at the end of your driveway to pick up your precious baby for school – not if school-bus company Blue Bird has its way.
The company announced the unveiling the latest version of its plug-in EVs in all of their yellow glory, adhering to the usual school bus dimensions, minus the snub nose of old. Powered by 160 kWh battery packs allow the new buses to go 120 miles on one charge, which should be more than enough for most school bus routes with which I am familiar.
What makes these newest EVs so groundbreaking, however, goes beyond transporting children. Right now, EVs – particularly plug-in EVs – are still outside of most people’s daily experience, so it’s often hard for people to understand how important they are to the future of transportation in the United States.
But now that they’ll be transporting kids to school? EVERYONE will know what EVs are. And we all know that once parents discover how good they are for their children’s environment, they will demand all the school buses be electric. Once that happens, you know they will proliferate everywhere.
I’ve argued for several years that a move like this would be the final push EVs need to become entirely mainstream. That moment finally appears to be here.
More:
Blue Bird Now Taking Orders For Electric School Buses To Be Delivered In 2018 (CleanTechnica)