There has been no shortage of concerns expressed about shifting to electric vehicles (EVs). Cost, range anxiety and worries about there not being a big enough EV charging infrastructure are just a few of the reasons people, and businesses, have been hesitant to make the switch to electric.
The inability to function in extreme cold temperatures is another reason many have opted to pump the brakes on an EV purchase. A January story about Chicago EV drivers being stranded due to their batteries dying in the cold may have given potential buyers pause — especially those who live in traditionally cold climates.
Such a concern is even bigger for commercial fleet operators. Businesses can’t afford for the vehicles to lose functionality — they are often making crucial deliveries or have to be at a given location at a certain time. A missed delivery because a truck couldn’t start could cost a company repeat business.
It turns out that extreme weather isn’t guaranteed to wreak havoc on EVs, however. For example in Havre, Montana, the electric school buses are operating fine — even in minus 30-degree weather, The Berkshire Eagle reports. It only takes a few hours to fully charge the buses, Allen “Woody” Woodwick, who manages Havre school busing operations, told KRTV Great Falls.
Additionally, the city’s electric school buses have auxiliary heaters and don’t have the freezing and gelling up problems that Harve’s diesel buses did, Woodwick said.
“They’re handling the cold and the street really well,” he said.
The EV school buses typically cost almost twice as much as their diesel counterparts, but a national Volkswagen settlement helped lower the cost, including EV charging stations, to less than a diesel, The Berkshire Eagle reports. Additionally, an EV school buses’ cost per mile is approximately one-quarter of what it is to run a diesel bus, including the electricity to charge them. EV school buses are also easier on children’s breathing, as they aren’t subjected to diesel fumes as they board.
Earlier this year, seven additional Montana school districts received Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding to buy 41 new EV school buses. The state does not have many concentrated population centers to put EV charging stations, however, which has led Montana to having one of the lowest EV adoption rates in the U.S.
EV school buses are thriving in Montana, however. Their predictable mileage and schedule make it easy to recharge them. There have been 12 electric buses running in Missoula since 2017, which have avoided 347 tons of carbon dioxide, The Berkshire Eagle reports. Meanwhile, Billings has ordered four buses.
When it comes to charging these vehicles, more than half of Montana’s electric power comes from renewable sources, mostly hydropower. In comparison, Iowa boasts the country’s highest renewable energy rate (60 percent) and Massachusetts’ is just 16 percent.
“So it seems that electric buses are more efficient than diesel and work well in extreme conditions,” columnist Lauren R. Stevens wrote for The Berkshire Eagle. “They might be the best all-electric vehicle where charging stations are scattered. If they function well in Montana, they must be good to go. At least, that’s how it looks from the White Oaks.”
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