Students in School District 64 (which includes Salt Spring, Galiano, Mayne, Saturna and Pender islands in British Columbia) could soon be riding to school on all-new electric school buses.
The Salt Spring Community Energy Group recenlty conducted a study on the practicality of replacing their 12 gas powered school buses with an all-electric fleet of buses. The study found that not only would it have the obvious effect of reducing carbon emissions, it would also save School District 64 lots of money in the long run.
But as with most electric vehicles today, there is a large up-front cost, and the savings will only materialize years down the line.
Prices today for electric school buses start at around $270,000. Then they would also have to add in the cost of building the charging infrastructure necessary for their fleet, estimated at another $100,000.
On the positive side though, the warranties of up to 15 years for the buses will reduce longer term costs and they will have a longer service life than their current fleet.
h/t [CBC]
