How much would it cost to replace the nation’s fossil-fuel-powered bus fleets with clean electric ones? Jobs to Move America and Clean Energy Works, in collaboration with the Alliance for Electric School Buses led by Chispa, have estimated how much it would cost to establish a federal program to electrify half of the nation’s 500,000 school buses.
A federal program should provide funding for at least the difference in cost between a diesel bus and an electric bus, as well as the cost of installing the necessary electrical infrastructure. One of the main goals of the program would be to spur large-scale production, which should result in significant reductions in cost over time. Funding should also support training and workforce development, deployment assistance, and resources to deploy new technologies such as Vehicle to Grid (V2G) integration.
We estimate that it would cost approximately $30 billion to replace 250,000 school buses with electric models.
The full explanation of the annual costs and assumptions is provided here.
A recent report by Jobs to Move America on electric school buses in New York suggests that investing heavily in electric school buses—if done right—could provide cleaner air for students, help address environmental injustice, and create good, green jobs. The report recommends providing significant funding for ESBs, as well as the use of inclusive, best-value procurement to create high-road standards in school bus manufacturing and operations.
Ian Elder, National Senior Researcher at Jobs to Move America, and Margarita Parra, Clean Energy Works’ Transportation Director contributed to this research.