One Michigan school official admitted his district’s move to using electric buses was less than the government has touted it to be.
Emile Lauzzana, the environmental sustainability director of Michigan’s fourth-largest school district, recently told the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education that the district’s electric bus fleet has had “a lot of downtime and performance issues.”
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“It’s been a tough 2 1/2 years with this program,” Lauzzana said.
“We’ve been learning a lot about this technology,” Lauzzana also said. “Electric buses are approximately five times more expensive than regular buses, and the electrical infrastructure, which was originally estimated to be only about $50,000, give or take, for those four buses ended up being more like $200,000.”
Lauzzana explained the district attempted to utilize “Vehicle to Grid” interconnection, which helps push energy back to the grid when buses are not being used, but that the “technology was not working.”
“I will say that I have a number of colleagues in different states who are facing similar challenges,” he added, noting the differences between electric cars versus buses. “For the school bus market, it’s been challenging for us.”
Ann Arbor Public Schools reportedly purchased its electric buses with a state grant that was funded by Michigan’s portion of a Volkswagen environmental settlement.
Last year, the Biden administration announced $17 million in grants to fund zero-emission electric school buses.
Despite the buses’ frustrating performance, Lauzzana affirmed Ann Arbor Public Schools would remain committed to the use of electric buses “as incentives became available.”
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Conservative group Michigan Freedom Fund blasted the school district’s commitment, saying, “Michigan Democrats have put the (electric) cart before the horse.”
“The technology and infrastructure for electric buses do not exist at this moment,” spokeswoman Mary Drabik said. “This backward approach to policy only creates more costly problems for residents. As long as Democrats continue to spend the tax dollars of hardworking Michiganders, it will be the residents that truly suffer, not the environment.”
