Blue Bird, Highland Supplying 18 Electric Buses to Michigan's Dearborn Public Schools
Michigan’s Dearborn Public Schools is upping its electric vehicle fleet with 18 new Blue Bird All American Type D buses.
The district acquired the electric school buses through Holland Bus Company, Blue Bird's authorized school bus dealer in Michigan, supported by $7.1 million from the EPA's Clean School Bus Rebate Program.
Dearborn, which educates 20,000 students districtwide, also has partnered with Highland Electric Fleets, a provider of Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS) for school bus fleets in North America, to modernize its fleet. Highland has installed 20 BorgWarner charging stations for overnight and downtime charging for the buses to be available for daily routes, under the project.
The buses generate no emissions and are reported to travel up to 120 miles on a single charge. They can be fully charged in 6-8 hours overnight. The buses operate with low noise as compared to their diesel counterparts, reducing noise pollution in the surrounding neighborhoods.
"The addition of these 18 electric buses is another example of how our district is leading the way and taking actions that will benefit students and the greater Dearborn community,” Dearborn School Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said in a statement. “There is also a lesson here for our students about the importance of being good stewards of the environment and taking steps to be a role model.”
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School buses are a focus of fleet electrification efforts, since the routes are regular and relatively short, making the charging cycle much more predictable. Among the district nationwide which have added electric buses recently include Cincinnati, Providence, R.I., Portland, Ore., Stafford County Public Schools in Virginia and Billings Public Schools in Montana.
