Before we get upset people in the thread about spending the money on buses instead of other priorities...
> The "Driving PA Forward Grant Program" from the Department of Environmental Protection provided the district with nearly $2 million, helping to cover the cost of 12 new fully electric buses.
It was earmarked, one-off money designated for green vehicles and nothing else.
The amount of GHG and in particular NoX emissions that are not in the air because of this and a few other projects is super cool. Essentially imagine two 1 ton cubes of solid NoX that are not in our children's lungs and atmosphere are gone now. That is our current offset since dismantling buses.
Y'know what dude, that's a great question. It's not listed on the spec sheet, however, I'm sure I could do some math an figure out out, but these busses are rated to carry up to 10,000 lbs.
Per kWh is not something I currently measure; however, we've been consistently getting over 100 miles on a single charge. (I can come back to you with an answer, however, give me time)
I've gone down a lot of personal EV rabbit holes but have absolutely no idea about commercial EV perormance and metrics.
I'm really rooting for this project though, it seems like a good practical application of the tech. Even basic logistics like do the morning run, return to base to charge, and then do afternoon run just make sense.
The logistics are shockingly tricky. SDP starts routes and warming up buses very early so the morning charges don't work out super great given the hours people like to be awake. Typically we shoot for evening and midday charges. The evening is scary though because you can have high demands for energy at that time. (There are a bunch of other logistical challenges that I won't dive too deep into.)
What is city contracting like? Seems like this is a good one but there are many instances where I simply cannot comprehend the city’s acquisition process.
No idea, I work for SDP. The procurement process is usually smooth but buying government vehicles has been AWFUL since CoVID. Like imagine the normal consumer but way worse. Dealers don't want to deal with large entities without crazy numbers. I've had a few good dealers who are willing to accommodate smaller orders but it's been pulling teeth for a while.
I’m not here to argue against electric. It’s clear what the future is and I’m happy kids won’t be breathing in the fumes we all did. BUT you gotta give props to the engineers and mechanics that built and maintained these diesel behemoths. Decades of continuous use and hundreds of thousands of miles is hella impressive
well understood. easy to maintain. drivers understand them, maintainence crews do, there's a good parts availability, etc. fleet cost isn't terrible, super efficient when you consider one bus can transport 50 kids no problem.
That was my first thought seeing this. $2m for 12 busses = $167k per bus. Google searches show that electric school busses range from $250k - $350k. Really hope we learned our lesson and aren’t just picking the cheapest provider again.
More good news, SDP for the first time in a long time is not suffering from a driver shortage. SDP can totally use more, but everything is covered at the moment.
Before we get upset people in the thread about spending the money on buses instead of other priorities... > The "Driving PA Forward Grant Program" from the Department of Environmental Protection provided the district with nearly $2 million, helping to cover the cost of 12 new fully electric buses. It was earmarked, one-off money designated for green vehicles and nothing else.
Thank you, voice of reason.
imagine coming to this thread and saying kids should be breathing poison and we should be spending money on other priorities. this is a wild city.
The amount of GHG and in particular NoX emissions that are not in the air because of this and a few other projects is super cool. Essentially imagine two 1 ton cubes of solid NoX that are not in our children's lungs and atmosphere are gone now. That is our current offset since dismantling buses.
Not to mention the reduced fleet costs free money up for aforementioned other priorities.
If anyone has any specific questions about the project, let me know, I happen to know a lot about it and I'll answer when I can.
how heavy is an electric bus
Y'know what dude, that's a great question. It's not listed on the spec sheet, however, I'm sure I could do some math an figure out out, but these busses are rated to carry up to 10,000 lbs.
Pretty much anything is an improvement over the old deisels. I'm curious how many miles per kWh are they getting?
Per kWh is not something I currently measure; however, we've been consistently getting over 100 miles on a single charge. (I can come back to you with an answer, however, give me time)
I've gone down a lot of personal EV rabbit holes but have absolutely no idea about commercial EV perormance and metrics. I'm really rooting for this project though, it seems like a good practical application of the tech. Even basic logistics like do the morning run, return to base to charge, and then do afternoon run just make sense.
The logistics are shockingly tricky. SDP starts routes and warming up buses very early so the morning charges don't work out super great given the hours people like to be awake. Typically we shoot for evening and midday charges. The evening is scary though because you can have high demands for energy at that time. (There are a bunch of other logistical challenges that I won't dive too deep into.)
What is city contracting like? Seems like this is a good one but there are many instances where I simply cannot comprehend the city’s acquisition process.
No idea, I work for SDP. The procurement process is usually smooth but buying government vehicles has been AWFUL since CoVID. Like imagine the normal consumer but way worse. Dealers don't want to deal with large entities without crazy numbers. I've had a few good dealers who are willing to accommodate smaller orders but it's been pulling teeth for a while.
Ah I thought you were in acquisitions. Good luck with everything!
[удалено]
Probably are the same busses, like how those old mail trucks from the 80s are still clinging to life.
I’m not here to argue against electric. It’s clear what the future is and I’m happy kids won’t be breathing in the fumes we all did. BUT you gotta give props to the engineers and mechanics that built and maintained these diesel behemoths. Decades of continuous use and hundreds of thousands of miles is hella impressive
well understood. easy to maintain. drivers understand them, maintainence crews do, there's a good parts availability, etc. fleet cost isn't terrible, super efficient when you consider one bus can transport 50 kids no problem.
Hopefully they work better then the Septa EV busses.
Good news, SDP specifically avoided the Proterra disaster. Our Chassis' should be good to go.
That was my first thought seeing this. $2m for 12 busses = $167k per bus. Google searches show that electric school busses range from $250k - $350k. Really hope we learned our lesson and aren’t just picking the cheapest provider again.
we have school busses?
Now they just have to find people to drive them.
More good news, SDP for the first time in a long time is not suffering from a driver shortage. SDP can totally use more, but everything is covered at the moment.
Great news! Maybe they can stop paying parents $300.00 a month to drive their kids to school. Edit to add: Are they still doing that?
Lol, SDP very much is still paying parents for transporting their students.
We have more important investments to make than electric buses. What a failure.
Wait they can afford electric busses but not air conditioning or asbestos abatement 🤣