WARWICK, N.Y. — Trans Tech Bus’ SSTe all-electric school bus has passed the California Highway Patrol's certification and is now legal to begin service in the state, company officials announced on Friday.  

The first SSTe is scheduled to go to Kings Canyon Unified School District in Reedley, Calif.  

“We are extremely excited to know that the SSTe passed inspection in California,” said Brian Barrington, national sales manager for Trans Tech Bus. “This validates the work and effort that Trans Tech and Motiv Power Systems put into the SSTe.”  

The SSTe is scheduled to start full production later in 2014, according to Trans Tech Bus.

Trans Tech Bus and Motiv Power Systems introduced the bus during the National Association for Pupil Transportation’s Summit in Grand Rapids, Mich., last year, and it was one of the items on view during the trade show.

The bus is built on a Ford E-450 chassis, utilizing the all-battery, all-chassis compatible Motiv electric Powertrain Control System (ePCS). The ePCS is installed as a Ford ship-through chassis modification similar to a compressed natural gas modification, enabling minimal changes between the fossil fuel and electric versions of the school buses.

The Motiv ePCS is compatible with a wide variety of chassis and batteries, officials said. The ePCS allows buses to be compatible with any battery currently on the market or available in the future. Additionally, one pack can be replaced without replacing all the batteries on the vehicle. The SSTe school buses are available with range options of 80 or 100 miles.