The third round of GreenPower Motor Company's West Virginia pilot project has kicked off in Boone, McDowell, Raleigh, and Wyoming counties.
"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 Fraser Atkinson, GreenPower CEO and chairman. "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."
The Type D bus is deployed in Boone, McDowell, and Raleigh counties, while Wyoming County received the Type A.
"We are looking forward to piloting GreenPower's all-electric school bus in McDowell County for the next 6 weeks, reshaping the way students get to and from school as part of Round 3 of the state pilot project," said Carolyn Falin, superintendent of McDowell County Schools. "Providing the best education to our students is our number one priority. We are excited to learn more about how we could possibly incorporate electric buses into our transportation fleet."
"Wyoming County Schools is proud to be one of several school districts in the state to use an electric school bus in its fleet," said Deirdre Cline, superintendent of Wyoming County Schools. "Our commitment to our students is to provide them with the best education and give them the opportunity to learn and grow, not just as students, but as members of our community. We are excited to participate in this program with GreenPower and look forward to making a ride on an electric school bus a part of our students' daily lives."
"We are happy for Raleigh County Schools to partner with GreenPower Motor Company and the state of West Virginia to pilot electric school buses," said David Price, superintendent of Raleigh County Schools. "We look forward to exploring the benefits of this program."
"We are excited for our students to have the opportunity to experience riding an all-electric school bus from GreenPower Motor Company," said Matt Riggs, superintendent of Boone County Public Schools. "Our participation through this pilot project for the next six weeks will allow us to assess how to best incorporate all-electric buses into our fleet."
