Montgomery County Public Schools has deployed the single largest electric school bus in the U.S. It is one of the largest school districts in the country and last year, we already saw the delivery of its first 25 electric buses and installed electric infrastructure at one of its transportation depots.
The school district will replace 326 diesel school buses with electric school buses by 2025. It aims to have an entirely electric school bus fleet in 10 years.
The Maryland school district held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda with Highland Electric fleets who provide school bus fleet electrification-as-a-service.
Highland designs and organises electric school bus projects for school districts. The company create a subscription plan that includes buses, chargers, and depot improvements. Each district can choose what model and make of electric school buses they would like.
Maryland House Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo said: “Toxic pollutants can be as much as 2.5 times more prevalent inside a typical diesel school bus than inside an electric school bus. Considering this, along with the carbon emissions caused by the 17,000 gallons of fuel that MCPS diesel buses use daily, electrifying our school bus fleets is an imperative public health, climate change, and environmental priority.”
Montgomery County has chosen all Thomas Built electric school buses which range from Type C with a 226-kWh standard battery capacity and a range of up to 138 miles and some are Type A which are typically smaller buses.
