Yeah but did they move the driver heater that blows directly on the left side of my calf and nowhere else???
For efficiency, they’ve replaced it with a microwave oven that clamps over the left side of your calf.
How does it work in sub-zero temperatures? Range, charge capacity, batter wear, etc.
EV is an interesting idea for the school bus application, but a couple of years ago we had 30 days straight where we didn’t get about -30F.
There is an electric bus currently used in Alaska for a rural route, using the heater to keep the interior up around 50F roughly halved the range.
So if something happens……
That’s pretty scary.
School buses are a perfect vehicle to go EV. They run (relatively) short, consistent routes twice a day and unless there’s a school trip or something, sit idle the rest of the time. I almost would’ve preferred if the EV transition we’re thoroughly within now would’ve started with things like this and the Rivian van and that god awful looking new USPS truck
It isn’t exactly an efficient use of limited resources (battery cells) to put a 300 mile battery in something as large as a school bus that only drives short distances every day. That could be up around 300 kWh. What if it only drives 30 miles per day the vast majority of days? It’s only using 10% of the total pack capacity daily. Not saying buses shouldn’t be electric, just that maybe they should be plug in hybrids with smaller batteries and a gas range extender for long trips.
The efficiency could be improved if the battery served as grid storage while not in use, but still not optimal because it’s not permanently attached to the grid and may be on the road during peak hours.
Most rural buses are On the road for at least 4 hours a day. 45-1 hr trips to school are common.
And that assumes all ages in the same bus.