STOCKTON, Calif. — A “crowdfunding” campaign collected more than $100,000 for an electric school bus project for Stockton Unified School District (USD).

Green vehicle technology company ADOMANI Inc. launched the campaign through GoFundMe. San Joaquin Valley residents contributed to the campaign, raising a portion of the funds needed to convert a diesel school bus to an all-electric school bus for Stockton USD.

“These are exciting times for the electric bus industry,” said Jim Reynolds, ADOMANI’s new president and CEO. “The number of school and commercial applications for this product is growing every day. We at ADOMANI are looking forward to working with these forward-thinking schools in developing grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid products that serve this marketplace.”

ADOMANI recently responded to a request for proposal initiated by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. The results of the grant are still pending. Kevin Kanning, ADOMANI’s chief operating officer, noted that in many cases, RFP respondents have to provide matching funds, so donations like those through GoFundMe could help address that need.

ADOMANI got in touch with Stockton USD after hearing of the district's solar photovoltaic project, which is designed to generate up to 6.7 megawatts of solar power for the district’s schools and facilities.

Stockton USD’s conversion vehicle will likely be a 50-passenger Type D school bus similar to two other buses that ADOMANI has converted to electric. One of those is in use at Gilroy USD.

According to ADOMANI, the all-electric converted school bus will eliminate 33,400 pounds of diesel emissions annually.