AUTO

Blue Bird Sells a Record 180 Electric School Buses to LAUSD

February 17, 2024

The Blue Bird Corporation announced a record-breaking sale of 180 Electric School Buses to The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD.)
LAUSD is gearing up for a complete transition to eco-friendly transportation, which is expected to be fully operational in early 2025.
Blue Bird marked the delivery of their 1,500th electric school bus, another impressive milestone.

The Blue Bird Corporation, a leader among electric school bus manufacturers, has recently announced the receipt of the most substantial order of electric school buses in its history. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) placed an order for 180 electric, zero-emission school buses through A-Z Bus Sales, Inc., a local Blue Bird dealer. With an anticipated delivery of the first set of buses by October 2024, LAUSD bus transportation is gearing up for a complete evolution to eco-friendly transit that is expected to be fully operational in early 2025.

Blue Bird Is Powering Electric School Bus Use

The federal government’s electric school bus initiative offers significant funding to offset electric school bus costs. The cost of an electric school bus can be significant, and this funding helps cover part of that cost.

Marking the delivery of the 1,500th Blue Bird electric school bus, the company is demonstrating the increasing demand for clean energy vehicles. The grand opening of their EV Build-up Center in Georgia shows dedication to scaling up, increasing production capacity to an impressive 5,000 electric school buses a year.

Powering these advanced zero-emission vehicles is the electric PowerDrive 7000 system, birthed from the dynamic and productive collaboration with Accelera by Cummins.

Already operating 26 Blue Bird electric buses, LAUSD is now set to expand its zero-emission footprint further with an additional 30 Vision and 150 All American electric buses. These eco-friendly models are designed to run efficiently, boasting a driving range of up to 130 miles on a single charge, offering an impressive electric school bus range. With LAUSD’s forthcoming enhancements to its charging infrastructure, the new additions to the fleet can be fully recharged in three to eight hours.

Blue Bird’s forward-thinking design includes a standard vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability in their electric buses, allowing LAUSD to generate revenue, thus transforming their bus fleet into a financial asset. Alongside the monetary benefits, vehicle-to-grid technology plays a crucial role in evening out energy demands on the power grid and significantly bolsters grid resiliency.