Biden Admin Drops $1 Billion on Electric School Buses

[libertybele]

Another billion wasted!

Biden Admin Drops $1 Billion on Electric School Buses

The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled nearly $1 billion in awards to U.S. school districts to replace aging, gas-fueled school buses with cleaner, mainly electric models.

The funding is the first tranche of $5 billion that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hand out over five years through a clean school bus program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.

The awards will support the purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric, the White House said. The nearly 400 rebates will go to school districts in all 50 states.

The EPA's clean school bus program is part of a broader push by the administration to upgrade public school infrastructure and reduce pollution from old buses. It also helps deliver on U.S. President Joe Biden's pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and funnel federal investments to underserved communities.

Transitioning to an electric school bus fleet nationwide would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.3 million tons per year, according to a study by the non-profit Public Interest Research Group. That's about the same as taking one and a half coal plants offline for a year, according to an EPA calculator...............

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-admin-spends-1-billion-on-electric-school-buses/

[aligncare]

We’ve got to put a stop to our headlong dive to electrify the nation’s transportation systems.  America’s infrastructure and security is simply not ready for all EV.  The nascent technology may someday be a viable ADD ON to our current oil, natural gas, and coal, but should not be government mandated as the sole transport system in every sector of the economy and in all regions of the country.

Anyway, the only reason for this rush towards “green energy” is that its become a fantasy election campaign issue for democrats on which to garner votes from their looney leftist constituents.

[libertybele]

We’ve got to put a stop to our headlong dive to electrify the nation’s transportation systems.  America’s infrastructure and security is simply not ready for all EV.  The nascent technology may someday be a viable ADD ON to our current oil, natural gas, and coal, but should not be government mandated as the sole transport system in every sector of the economy and in all regions of the country.

Anyway, the only reason for this rush towards “green energy” is that its become a fantasy election campaign issue for democrats on which to garner votes from their looney leftist constituents.

Exactly.  Also, some EV that took on water during the hurricane actually caught on fire.  You are correct, the US is simply not ready for all EV.

[Bigun]

Spending (throwing away) OPM (other people's money) has been job one for Joe Biden all his life.

[Kamaji]

Electric actually makes sense for fleet vehicles like school buses - except in rural areas - that mostly do less than 100 miles a day in stop-and-go conditions in suburban areas.  It would actually be a useful testbed to work out the teething problems with a nascent technology and, quite honestly, the school districts should be negotiating purchase and maintenance discounts in exchange for comprehensive performance data going back to the manufacturer.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Does that $1 Billion include tow trucks, fire extinguishers, and an electricity source to charge the buses?

[Bigun]

Electric actually makes sense for fleet vehicles like school buses - except in rural areas - that mostly do less than 100 miles a day in stop-and-go conditions in suburban areas.  It would actually be a useful testbed to work out the teething problems with a nascent technology and, quite honestly, the school districts should be negotiating purchase and maintenance discounts in exchange for comprehensive performance data going back to the manufacturer.

Unless you calculate ALL the costs involved in producing and operating those buses. If you do that honestly you will discover that there will NEVER be ANY ROI.

[libertybele]

Spending (throwing away) OPM (other people's money) has been job one for Joe Biden all his life.

Amen!

[Kamaji]

Unless you calculate ALL the costs involved in producing and operating those buses. If you do that honestly you will discover that there will NEVER be ANY ROI.

I disagree.

[sneakypete]

Follow the money. WHICH corporation gets the contracts,and how much did they contribute to DNC funding?

[sneakypete]

Spending (throwing away) OPM (other people's money) has been job one for Joe Biden all his life.

@Bigun

I honestly doubt he has ever spent even a nickel of his own money since his first day in office in Delaware.

[Bigun]

I disagree.

That's OK. I'm cool with that but I HAVE done my homework.

[mountaineer]

Our school districts won't be able to afford their electric bills.

An electric bus pilot project has begun in my state:

... "West Virginia is a perfect location for the first true pilot project of all-electric, purpose-built, zero-emission school buses," said Fraser Atkinson, CEO of GreenPower. "The terrain, weather conditions and the combination of rural and urban settings will give a real-life demonstration of the school buses' capabilities. The only way for school districts to become comfortable with the new technology is through hands-on experience."  ...

source
The terrain? These things are going to go up and down our steep hills? They'll run out of juice about halfway through a mostly-rural route. I'd think they'd make more sense in urban flat settings, like parts of Texas or Florida.

[Bigun]

@Bigun

I honestly doubt he has ever spent even a nickel of his own money since his first day in office in Delaware.

If he did it was with the understanding that he would get many $$$ back.

[andy58-in-nh]

Unless you calculate ALL the costs involved in producing and operating those buses. If you do that honestly you will discover that there will NEVER be ANY ROI.

Right - electric charging expenses and battery maintenance, disposal and replacement costs would easily negate any savings. Eventually, when technology catches up with current economic reality, electric buses may be quite useful. Government spending and wishful thinking can't make that happen sooner.   

[Bigun]

Our school districts won't be able to afford their electric bills.

An electric bus pilot project has begun in my state:source
The terrain? These things are going to go up and down our steep hills? They'll run out of juice about halfway through a mostly-rural route. I'd think they'd make more sense in urban flat settings, like parts of Texas or Florida.

In the 1950s Houston had a very good public transportation system that operated many electric buses (no batteries, the buses were powered directly off overhead lines.) but they couldn't stand it because it was TOO efficient and limited the opportunities for politicians to line their pockets.

[libertybele]

Our school districts won't be able to afford their electric bills.

An electric bus pilot project has begun in my state:source
The terrain? These things are going to go up and down our steep hills? They'll run out of juice about halfway through a mostly-rural route. I'd think they'd make more sense in urban flat settings, like parts of Texas or Florida.

Nope, won't work in FL.  During storms, how in the heck is one going to make a 12+ hour journey in an EV?? It's difficult enough to make that journey trying to find gas stations.

Also, EV's that take on some water have been known to catch fire.

[Smokin Joe]

Electric actually makes sense for fleet vehicles like school buses - except in rural areas - that mostly do less than 100 miles a day in stop-and-go conditions in suburban areas.  It would actually be a useful testbed to work out the teething problems with a nascent technology and, quite honestly, the school districts should be negotiating purchase and maintenance discounts in exchange for comprehensive performance data going back to the manufacturer.

Not even in town at -30. You have to heat that barn, too.

[libertybele]

Not even in town at -30. You have to heat that barn, too.

EV is just a losing issue all the way around. It's only being used as part of the Great Reset to control.

[mountaineer]

EV is just a losing issue all the way around. It's only being used as part of the Great Reset to control.

That's the bottom line.

[Kamaji]

Not even in town at -30. You have to heat that barn, too.

(a) you know this for a fact, or just for bias, (b) most bus barns that I've worked in are sufficiently heated so that the buses (diesels) themselves don't need block heaters.  Not a distinguishing factor except, perhaps, in the far north.

[Smokin Joe]

(a) you know this for a fact, or just for bias, (b) most bus barns that I've worked in are sufficiently heated so that the buses (diesels) themselves don't need block heaters.  Not a distinguishing factor except, perhaps, in the far north.

My reference was to the bus itself as a barn. That's a lot of cubic feet to heat inside the bus at -30, especially if you don't want hypothermic kids getting off to start their school day.

[berdie]

Electric actually makes sense for fleet vehicles like school buses - except in rural areas - that mostly do less than 100 miles a day in stop-and-go conditions in suburban areas.  It would actually be a useful testbed to work out the teething problems with a nascent technology and, quite honestly, the school districts should be negotiating purchase and maintenance discounts in exchange for comprehensive performance data going back to the manufacturer.

I must respectfully disagree. I don't really believe all the bugs have been worked out of this technology. Not enough to entrust children to be transported.

I will say that there will be a useful application for this in the future. But not today, imho.

[Fishrrman]

"Biden Admin Drops $1 Billion on Electric School Buses"

Wait until one or two of those shiny new electric school buses does this while full of kids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T71cVhxG_v4

[Smokin Joe]

"Biden Admin Drops $1 Billion on Electric School Buses"

Wait until one or two of those shiny new electric school buses does this while full of kids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T71cVhxG_v4

From first smoke to full on ignition, there is not enough time to abandon the bus. Now, imagine grade school kids, two or three to a seat trying to get off at the front and back, through brutal smoke, and it gets really ugly. Few would survive.

Here, if such a bus went dead or caught fire, the survivors would then have to contend with Winter weather...and may or may not be close enough to even a farmstead to get out of the cold.