How many miles per gallon does an electric school bus get?
On average, diesel buses use 6 miles per gallon [mpg], while electric buses boost that efficiency to an equivalent of 17 mpg. Electric school buses can save more than $170,000 on fuel and maintenance throughout their lifespan.
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Electric school buses can travel 100 miles or more on a single charge. That's more than enough for the average route.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Electric School Buses? The two biggest disadvantages are cost and range. Although an electric bus is likely to save money in the long term, the initial purchase price is considerably higher. This difference can be potentially offset with different funding options.
More fuel efficient: Diesel school buses can drive at 8.20 miles per gallon, whereas an electric school bus drives at 20.87 miles per diesel gallon equivalent — making them almost 60% more energy efficient.
How much does it cost to replace an electric bus battery? When will that replacement be necessary? The traction battery on an electric school bus could cost around $50,000 to replace, if replacement costs are not covered under warranty. Battery capacity and bus range will decline over time.
Expanding Bus Ranges and Declining Battery Prices Are Making Electric Buses Mainstream Electric buses today can travel anywhere between 150 miles on the lower end to 275 – 300 miles on a single charge.
It's cheaper to run and maintain an electric bus.Fueling a bus with electricity is only about a third of the cost of fueling it with gas, which saves a considerable amount of money over time. Electric buses also have fewer regular maintenance costs—because they don't run on fuel, there's no need for oil changes.
Estimated savingsAn e-bus may be 50% more expensive than a standard diesel option, and that's not including the cost of charging stations. Once over that initial speed bump, however, it's a smooth ride to savings.
Those upfront costs for electric buses can be expensive. They vary by factors like size and battery type, but costs average about $400,000 per bus. That's more expensive than some diesel alternatives, but battery production costs are expected to decline as the market matures, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
There are many different factors that impact the cost of a charging station, which can range from as low as $596 per port for the lowest power simple dual port level one station to as high as $140,000 for a 350 kW single port DC fast charger.
Since they do not use gasoline or diesel, BEBs do not produce tailpipe pollution. Thus, BEBs offer a better option than other bus technologies for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other harmful pollutants in urban areas.
Electric school buses are a cleaner, safer alternative, and they're cheaper to operate — it costs about 14 cents a mile for electricity compared to 49 cents per mile for diesel fuel, according to Blue Bird, a leading school bus manufacturer. They can also act as giant batteries to store surplus energy when not in use.