IC lowers price of hybrid school bus

WARRENVILLE, Ill. — IC Bus LLC announced a $30,000 to $40,000 price decrease for its hybrid school bus.

The decrease became effective earlier this month.

The company is able to lower the price due to increased demand for hybrid buses and recognizes that a price decrease will allow more school districts to purchase the hybrid school bus, said John McKinney, vice president and general manager.

IC Bus, formerly known as IC Corporation, unveiled the nation’s first hybrid school bus in July 2006. Hybrid school buses have posed a challenge for many customers because of the high initial purchase price, which was previously around $200,000.

In 2007, the first 19 hybrid school buses were built and delivered to school districts across the U.S., with grants and tax credits helping to defray some of those costs.

These orders were the result of a nationwide initiative called the Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus Project, led by Raleigh, N.C.-based Advanced Energy, a non-profit corporation that initiated a buyers consortium of school districts, state energy agencies and student transportation providers.

The hybrid school bus features Enova's hybrid drive system, which was extensively tested and evaluated at IC Bus’ research and technology facility in Fort Wayne, Ind. The hybrid system uses a post transmission, parallel drive configuration, allowing for the MaxxForce diesel engine, the electric motor and the hybrid system's battery pack to work in tandem to optimize fuel economy and reduce emissions output.