Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has partnered with Highland Electric Fleet, an Electrification-as-a-Service provider, to deploy three school buses to support some of the transportation needs of the 105,000 students the district transports each day.
"We are extremely excited to join the ranks of school transportation systems who are embracing new technology for their fleets," said Brian Schultz, Chief Operations Officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. "The buses will also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases."
To assist in the electric school bus deployment, the school district received funding support from Phase II of the North Carolina Volkswagen Settlement - a $68 million fund allocated for projects seeking to reduce NOx emissions and improve air quality.
In total, funding from Phase II has provided 161 funded school bus replacements, including 43 electric buses, which are projected to reduce more than 126 tons of NOx emissions over their lifetime.
Highland Electric Fleet also provided assistance to the district during the grant application process and has agreed to implement a charging infrastructure by installing three chargers for the new electric school buses.
"North Carolina is becoming a leader in the energy transition and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' commitment to take the first steps towards electrifying their school bus fleet helps to drive the state's clean energy goals further," said Matt Stanberry, Vice President of Market Development at Highland. "We look forward to this partnership to help provide clean, affordable, and reliable transportation to students and the community."
