School Bus Fleet, June 2018

LONG BEACH Calif A new electric Type A school bus from Collins and an electrified powertrain from Roush CleanTech are the latest entries in the expanding electric vehicle market The new offerings come at a time when the major large school bus OEMs have revealed their own new electric models see pg 16 Also more grants are becoming available to offset the higher purchase price of electric school buses That includes forthcoming funding from the Volkswagen diesel emissions settlement see pg 4 Collins goes electric Collins Bus Corp s new electric Type A school bus utilizes Motiv Power Systems Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis EPIC based on the Ford E 450 platform Motivs EPIC 4 Dearborn the chassis for the Collins electric bus has a gross vehicle weight rating GVWR of 14500 pounds and a range of up to 75 miles The battery pack capacity is 85 or 106 kilowatt hours with charging times of two hours for 50 four hours for 75 and eight hours for 100 The new electric Type A model joins Collins existing alternative fuel school buses which are powered by propane and compressed natural gas Kash Sethi director of sales for Motiv told SBF in April that a few school districts had already started applying for grant funding for the new Collins electric school bus He said that the Motiv powered Type A model is expected to be ready for delivery in the third quarter of this year Motiv is a Ford eQVM approved provider of all electric chassis for commercial trucks and buses The company also supplies the powertrains for electric school bus models from Trans Tech and Starcraft Creative Bus Sales At the Advanced Clean Transportation ACT Expo in Long Beach in early May Motiv showcased the forthcoming Adaptive Battery Controller ABC its new technology for monitoring and controlling multiple independent battery packs According to the company the ABC reduces the control hardwares footprint to 10 of its previous size and weight Sethi said that the new generation reduced footprint ABC will be available sometime in 2019 Our unique approach to battery and motor control increases performance and reliability he said and we will maintain this approach with our next generation control system while reducing footprint and cost Roush enters electric market Also at the ACT Expo Roush CleanTech revealed a new entry in its alternative fuel portfolio electric vehicles In the pupil transportation industry Roush CleanTech is best known for its propane autogas fuel systems that power Blue Bird and Micro Bird propane school buses The company also supplies compressed natural gas and gasoline systems On May 1 at the ACT Expo Roush unveiled an all electric Ford F 650 truck Todd Mouw president of Roush CleanTech said that the company is starting its electric venture with class 6 7 vehicles because theres a need there While the unveiling was a medium duty truck Mouw noted that the company also sees the school bus market as a good fit for an electric product We think school bus is another great opportunity to take this technology and move it there based on our expertise and knowledge of that customer need he said at the ACT Expo After the event a company spokesperson told SBF that there are no concrete plans at this point for a school bus application Roush CleanTechs new electric vehicles built on the Ford F 650 chassis will have a lithium ion battery system of up to 225 kilowatt hours and 700 volts Depending on GVWR the average range will be up to 120 miles with a top speed of 75 miles per hour according to the company The AC perma8 SCHOOL BUS FLEET JUNE 2018 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM NEWS WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM Electric Market Charges Up With New Entries From Collins Roush By Thomas McMahon Collins Bus Corp s new Motiv powered electric model is based on the Ford E 450 platform as seen in this Collins CNG model