Blue Bird electric school buses in pre-production, deliveries this year; Type C & D configurations

April 8, 2018
Green Car Congress

Blue Bird is taking orders for its electric school buses for delivery in 2018. Blue Bird is the only school bus OEM to offer electric Type C & D configurations. (Earlier post.) Blue Bird electric buses have completed certification testing; they are now in pre-production.

Blue Bird RE Electric.

Our electric buses have received an Executive Order from the California Air Resources Board and both HVIP and TVIP listing, which qualify Blue Bird’s electric buses for grants available in California and New York, respectively. That’s great news for our customers and following our Ride & Drives in California, we are already receiving orders from school districts.

—Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird Corporation

The Blue Bus powertrain was developed in partnership with Adomani and EDI. The buses feature the EDI PowerDrive 7000 EV drivetrain system. The EDI PowerDrive has surpassed more than 2.5 million miles in a commercial fleet setting of city buses deployed in rural and city routes.

With up to 160 kWh lithium-ion battery packs, the buses are expected to deliver 100-120 mile range on a single charge. Blue Bird offers a limited seven-year battery warranty.

Blue Bird Vision Electric.

A portable, standard charging station can recharge on a single shift or overnight. Telematics and remote monitoring capability available

Vehicle-to-Grid capability is coming in 2019, supported by a US Department of Energy (DOE) development grant.

The buses exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards with Colorado Racking and Kentucky Pole Test certification standard on every Blue Bird bus.

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