GreenPower has announced the third round of its pilot project to test all-electric school buses in West Virginia. Boone, McDowell, and Raleigh counties will use the electric Type D BEAST school bus, while Wyoming County will use the Type A Nano BEAST school bus. Both models have been recognized for their performance and sustainability.
“Round 3 of the West Virginia electric school bus pilot project that GreenPower is conducting with the state of West Virginia continues to be a true real-world, all-electric school bus application,” said GreenPower CEO and Chairman Fraser Atkinson. “The data collected is helping school districts understand more about the deployment of electric school buses, charging infrastructures, training and other critical elements as those schools look to include electric school buses in their fleets on a permanent basis.”
The preliminary data and results from rounds 1 and 2 of the pilot project show that the GreenPower BEAST and Nano BEAST are performing as expected with an overall performance rating of excellent and a battery consumption ranging from 1.1 to 1.5 miles per each percent of State of Charge. The pilots show that when fully utilizing level 2 chargers, the BEAST and Nano BEAST provide a school district a range of 200 to 250 miles per day.
The third round of the pilot project will focus on more rural roads, colder temperatures and snowy conditions to show how the buses handle winter conditions.
“Demonstrations in real-world scenarios are critical for both GreenPower and school districts looking to implement electric vehicles into their existing fleets,” said Atkinson. “As the pilot project continues, the BEAST and Nano BEAST will be used on different terrains and weather conditions on both city and rural routes to allow the results to be holistic of the overall performance that can be expected in differing environments.”
