Highland Electric Fleets, a provider of fleet electrification-as-a-service, partnered with McCandless Truck Center to deploy a fleet of IC and Collins/Lightning electric buses for the Peak to Peak Charter School in Boulder Valley School District in Colorado.
EV charging stations and infrastructure were installed by Highland on the Peak to Peak campus over the past summer, as part of its full-service fleet electrification arrangement with the charter school. The agreement also includes financing, electricity costs and management and maintenance of the buses and charging infrastructure under a fixed annual fee over 10 years with a five-year extension option.
Such an arrangement has helped the school avoid the high upfront cost of purchasing electric buses (typically $350,000 each) while offering clean, reliable transportation for its students at a manageable price.
This is the first all-electric school bus fleet in the state of Colorado, according to Highland Electric Fleets.
“Delivering a first-of-its-kind project in the state of Colorado through our innovative public-private partnership makes clean and reliable electric school buses available for less than a diesel bus fleet,” Richard DiMatteo, EVP of Highland and head of the company's second headquarters in Denver, said.
"As the largest all-electric school bus fleet in the state, we now have clear proof that electrification is not a future pipe dream but the smarter, more affordable option today. With high fuel prices and maintenance costs for diesel buses, now is the best time to upgrade, providing Colorado residents with the air quality the state deserves,” DiMatteo added.
Colorado has enacted Senate Bill 193, under which it has allocated $65 million for electric school buses in the state in a bid to accelerate the transition to cleaner, healthier transportation.
