The sun is just starting to peak over the horizon as I watch my daughter head for the bus stop. It’s 7:00 am and across the country millions of parents will be sending their children off to school as well. Sadly, I have learned that on her journey to school, my daughter will be poisoned by the diesel exhaust fumes coming from the very bus in which she is riding, and it’s a much bigger problem than I ever would have expected.

According to the EPA, “diesel exhaust from buses has a negative impact on human health, especially for children who have a faster breathing rate than adults and whose lungs are not yet fully developed. Asthma, which affects 6.3 million American school children, is the most common long-term childhood disease in America, making newer, cleaner buses an urgent priority.”

Studies from Environment and Human Health, Inc. have proven that riding a diesel bus everyday can increase a child’s risk for cancer by 4%, lower respiratory symptoms by 6%, and increase the rest of daily asthma hospitalizations by 1%. Children are exposed to airborne particulate concentrations inside school buses that are sometimes 5-15 times higher than background levels.

So if it’s this bad, what can be done about it? Well, as early as 1994, the Blue Bird bus company has offered a simple answer: electric school buses. Electric school buses eliminate the diesel engine and replace it instead with an electric motor powered by energy stored in battery packs. In addition to the obvious benefits of improved air quality, there are actually many other benefits to electric school buses as well.

Electric vehicles, by eliminating sometimes thousands of parts that require special maintenance and repair, require far less money to keep on the road. This is true of electric buses too. Because there is no need for engine oil changes, and no transmission or engine to maintain, Blue Bird’s buses have a lower cost of maintenance than a traditional, combustion-fueled bus. In fact, Blue Bird says that their electric models have up to an 80% reduction on maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle. What school fleet operator wouldn’t like that number?

However, what I was most excited to learn during a recent presentation, was that all Blue Bird electric buses will come equipped with the ability to access unused energy stored in the battery, and while plugged into a capable charger, sell that energy back to the grid. Energy companies can “buy back” stored energy that the buses are holding after a charge as well as charge the buses at off peak times when electrical power is less expensive. That’s right, cutting edge V2G technology on every bus. This has the power to significantly offset the cost of ownership for these vehicles.

A single electric motor mounted in the rear of the vehicle provides 315 hp and a whopping 2,400 ft-lbs. of torque!

“It’s like going from driving an old Lincoln to driving a new Cadillac,” says veteran bus driver Michelle Monteir, “It’s really smooth, quiet, and accelerates really fast.” Blue Bird didn’t have any 0-60 mph figures for me to work with, but after taking a short test ride I can tell you it’ll out perform any diesel powered bus without much effort.

Currently Blue Bird has two types of electric busses available, the Electric Vision Chassis with a standard front and the All American Chassis with a flat front. The flat front models offer greater visibility for drivers as well as added safety for children entering and exiting the bus.

So if electric school buses are so great, why aren’t more school districts making the switch? One obvious factor prohibiting a quick transition is the initial vehicle cost. Electric buses initially cost significantly more than their diesel counterparts. While state and federal grants can help reduce these costs, they aren’t available everywhere. However, Blue Bird did tell me that they are working on a financing program that will help their customers spread out the initial cost of the bus and ideally make this not a prohibitive factor. Combined with a lower cost of maintenance and the ability to sell electricity back to the energy provider and you've got a winning combination.

​There are so many reasons that we need to make the switch to electric buses. Long term, it will save our schools money. Short term, it may save our children’s lives. Either way, it’s a switch that needs to happen as quickly as possible, and we can look to Blue Bird to lead the way to a brighter future.

Celebrating gender equality on this year's International Women's Day, ground-breaking electric motorsport series Extreme E is launch-ready and set to kick off the 2021 season in just under a month. The mission is simple: use motorsport to highlight  important social and environmental issues important to today's world. The first, to raise awareness for the climate crisis and the role of clean energy,  and the second, to obliterate current preconceptions regarding gender in motorsport. 

Extreme E is the first series that has been designed around eliminating the gender divides in motorsport. And their inaugural year is certainly starting in a big way. Top female drivers from around the world such as Jamie Chadwick (2019 W Series winner), Sara Price (Off-Road Truck Champion and X Games Medalist), and Molly Taylor (Australian Rally Champion) will be competing with some of motorsports biggest names, including Jenson Button (Formula One champion) and Sebastien Loeb (WRC).

Per Extreme E rules, each team will be made up of one male and one female driver with each competing in one lap of the race course with a driver change-over called "the switch" taking place in between laps. Each team will have the choice on which driver will start and which driver will finish the race.

Jamie Chadwick is ready for the new series saying, "Extreme E is definitely a leap into the unknown for me, having only previously driven single-seaters and sportscars, but I’ve never shied away from a challenge. The first time I tested the car, I knew I wanted to race it – an electric SUV is a large vehicle, yet the stunning power it produces when you put your foot down makes it exhilarating to drive. The fact that Extreme E is also committed to gender equality is just the icing on the cake.”
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Equally as excited about racing in Extreme E is Molly Taylor. "One of the great things about motorsport is that when you put the helmet on it doesn't matter what gender you are and that’s always been my philosophy." She says, "But what I have noticed through competing, is the number of young girls that when they see a female competing, they then want to be involved - so I think having that exposure at the highest level is really important to help improve the diversity and equality for the next generations coming up.”

What Extreme E is doing has never been done before. Founder and CEO of the series Alejandro Agag explains, "We are striving for equality, and Extreme E’s sporting format is the truest reflection of that goal. Everybody will race together, and only the most effective combination of drivers, team, engineers and car will rise to the top. “I believe that our race format will challenge all of the drivers, male and female, which is what makes this concept so exciting. There is no shortage of women drivers good enough to take the seats!” Agag’s ultimate goal however? To end the emphasis on a driver’s gender entirely: “My aim is that one day, female participation and achievement throughout motorsport will be at such levels where it simply is not a story – then I will be happy.”

In celebration, Extreme E released this video: