FOSTER CITY, Calif. — An Illinois school district has ordered three electric school buses from electric drivetrain manufacturer Motiv Power Systems.  

Triad Community Unit School District #2 in Troy, Ill., recently placed the order for the electric Type C school buses, Motiv Power announced in its newsletter on Dec. 3.

Electric and gas delivery company Ameren Illinois will assist in the installation of the district’s charger and charging infrastructure, according to Motiv Power. Additionally, the electric school buses will be powered by a newly built solar system.

The electric buses that Triad will receive are based on Motiv’s EPIC F-59 chassis and are equipped with BMW i3 lithium-ion batteries. They were sold by Creative Bus Sales and will be built by Starcraft Bus.

"We are excited to add our first set of three electric buses to our existing school bus fleet in late spring of this school year," said Leigh Lewis, the superintendent of schools for the district. "Triad CUSD #2 was fortunate to receive $650,000 through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency [for the buses.]"

Lewis added that the district is partnering with Ameren Illinois to gather more information on the overall effectiveness electric buses can have as it works toward updating its current fleet.

As previously reported, Triad was awarded the grant for the purchase of the buses in September. The grant award is funded by the second round of the state’s $108 million share of Volkswagen (VW) settlement funds, and is being distributed through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Driving a Cleaner Illinois program.

Other recent awards to Illinois pupil transporters from the program include:

•    60 new direct-fired heaters for school buses to Wauconda Community Unit School District 118, funded by Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) funds.
•    Two new electric school buses and a charging unit to school bus company Cook-Illinois Corp. with funds from the first round of the state’s VW settlement funds.
•    One new electric school bus and charging unit to school bus company First Student, also funded by the first round of the state’s VW settlement funds.