Blue Bird Already Received Orders For Over 100 EV School Buses

Electrification of school buses might progress even faster than the electrification of transit buses.

Aug 22, 2019 at 6:29am ET

Blue Bird Corporation recently reached a milestone of more than 100 all-electric school buses, ordered in North America.

The company offers three models - All American RE Electric, Micro Bird G5 Electric and the Vision Electric, with a range of up to 100-120 miles (160-193 km) depending on the model.

The first such buses were already operating in California, North Dakota and Washington, while the rest will be delivered to customers in California, Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Quebec by the end of 2019 or in 2020.

According to Phil Horlock, president and CEO of Blue Bird Corporation, there is tremendous interest in switching school buses to electric drive:

“The amount of interest has been outstanding; people are very excited about a 100-percent electric-powered school bus. The nation is increasingly influenced in electric vehicle transportation in general, and we anticipate rapid growth of electric school buses as more districts are educated on the zero-emissions and low-maintenance benefits they bring to their local communities.”

All the Blue Bird Corporation electric buses are powered by Cummins fully electric drivetrain and the two expand their partnership.

"Blue Bird has been working with electric technology in school buses since 1994, and recently partnered with the Cummins Electrified Power business segment. Cummins produces the all-electric drivetrains that power Blue Bird’s Vision Electric and All American Electric buses. The partnership brings over 30 years of electric drivetrain experience to this fast-growing segment, and almost 200 combined years of leadership in customer support. Over the next three years, Cummins is investing $500 million in electrification to bring dependable, high quality, fully electric and hybrid solutions to market across a wide range of applications."

Julie Furber, vice president of electrified power at Cummins Inc. said:

“Cummins and Blue Bird are committed to supporting customers and ensuring that we are safely transporting our children and improving air quality for communities. Schools can count on Cummins to deliver the same level of support and service network for these electric buses that we’ve always delivered through our more than 200 wholly-owned branch locations and 3,200 service technicians in North America."