District adds two zero-emission buses to fleet
Students in the Beacon City School District have gotten their first taste of battery-powered transportation this month.
Two International electric school buses, their purchase approved by voters in 2024, were added to the district's fleet on Jan. 5. Beacon is the first of the Highlands' three public school districts to purchase zero-emissions vehicles.
"We're excited just to get started and get them into action," said Superintendent Matt Landahl. "We're probably ahead of a lot of districts in that regard."
A state law adopted in 2022 requires that all school buses purchased after 2027 run on electricity and that all 45,000 gas-powered school buses in New York be replaced by 2035. Lawmakers have pledged $600 million to support the transition through the Environmental Bond Act of 2022, but it may not be enough.
Statewide, only about 180 of 45,000 buses are electric, although more than 450 districts are working on electrification plans, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. At the same time, residents in a handful of districts, including Hyde Park, have voted against purchasing EV buses, despite state grants that would reduce costs.
Electric buses, which seat 45 adults or 66 children, aren't cheap. Together, Beacon's 2025 models cost $430,547, or about $215,000 each, including chargers. Voter approval was contingent on the district receiving at least $200,000 in state grants for each, but in the end, the district received $257,000 per bus, bringing the final cost much closer to the $190,000 price of a 72-passenger diesel bus.
Infrastructure is also an issue. Located in a far corner lot of Heritage Financial Park, Beacon's bus garage can accommodate the two 208-volt chargers, but "anything more and we'd have to do a pretty major upgrade on electric," said Anthony Vacirca, the district's head mechanic.
That type of upgrade would be part of a larger capital project. After voters approved a three-year, $50 million project in 2024 — in addition to the purchase of the electric and new diesel buses — the next proposal is at least two or three years away, Landahl said.
As far as performance, "I'm pleasantly surprised," with the EV buses, Vacirca said. "Pickup is fantastic. These have far more power than our other buses, and they handle and drive just like the other ones."
Beacon's vehicles are equipped with lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. Older electric models used lithium-ion batteries, but those could overheat. Batteries made with lithium iron phosphate don't have the range of lithium ion, "and that is an issue, especially in the wintertime," Vacirca said. Beacon's buses are expected to get 120 miles on a full charge in warm weather and 80 miles in the winter.
On Day 1, in 24-degree weather, one electric bus was driven 40 miles, bringing its battery down to 60 percent. Both are in use most days, and they're plugged in after morning runs and again in the afternoon. It takes 18 hours to get from zero to 100 percent, so even with the overnight charge, the batteries aren't always full in the morning.
EV Buses at Haldane and Garrison
In Cold Spring, Haldane Superintendent Gail Duffy said the district is pursuing grants to fund electric buses. Considering recent studies showing that the district's buses are underutilized, Haldane's first zero-emissions vehicle will likely be one of its smaller buses, she said.
Haldane applied for federal grants last year to offset the cost of four buses before the Environmental Protection Agency ended the program. As of July, the Clean School Bus Program had funded 8,500 buses in 1,200 districts nationally, according to the World Resources Institute's Electric School Bus Initiative.
The Garrison School recently approved a contract with INF Associates to conduct a feasibility study on electric buses. The study is being undertaken in case the district seeks a waiver from the state's zero-emission mandates, Superintendent ...
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