Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, largest school district in the Pacific Northwest, received two Nano BEAST zero-emission, all-electric school buses from GreenPower Motor Co.

"We are proud to deliver the first Nano BEASTs to the Portland Public Schools, making them the first district in Oregon to receive a purpose-built, all-electric Type A school bus," said Michael Perez, vice president of school bus, contracts, and grants at GreenPower. "Our purpose-built school buses set the new standard for zero-emission student transportation. The school buses will provide the students at Portland Public Schools a better, cleaner and safer transportation future, and we're ecstatic to play a role in helping PPS on their mission to fulfill their climate change policy and commitment to be zero-emission by 2040."

Portland Public Schools operates more than 80 schools and serves more than 49,000 students in the state. Starting this month, the Nano BEASTs will transport students to and from school in the surrounding communities providing health and climate benefits to the students and community.

With increasing government focus on the electrification of school buses, the demand for electric school buses has been rapidly growing over the past few years. The United States school bus fleet is the largest public transportation fleet in the country with more than twice the number of vehicles than all other forms of mass transportation combined. There are approximately 9,700 new Type A school buses sold every year and a total of approximately 480,000 school buses that transport students to and from school each day.

"Our school system is steadfast in our commitment to ensure we respond to the climate crisis," said PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero.  "With the support and collaboration of key partners, we are now taking concrete steps toward making us a more sustainable organization by starting to electrify our school bus fleet."