EV Fleet: public-school fleets

With return-to-base routes and fixed charging locations, public schools in California are well positioned to benefit by electrifying their fleets. Gains can include reduced operating costs, fewer instances of unscheduled maintenance and lower maintenance expenses. Plus, battery electric vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions, so they eliminate exposure to the harmful diesel emissions and toxic fumes that diesel-fueled transit buses produce.

Public school fleets can take advantage of the growing number of electric school bus offerings available from leading OEMs while demonstrating leadership by aligning with California’s climate goals.

The transportation sector is responsible for more than half of all of California’s carbon pollution, 80 percent of smog-forming pollution and 95 percent of toxic diesel emissions. California leads the nation in developing aggressive climate goals to target these emissions including requiring, by state law, a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Most recently, Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order issued in September 2020 mandates that all operations of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles shall be 100 percent zero emission by 2045, where feasible. The mandate goes into effect by 2035 for drayage trucks. Both the public and private transportation sectors must begin planning and procuring zero emission vehicles and infrastructure now to be meet these quickly approaching regulations.