The E-Transit Kind A faculty bus, which Ford showcased again in March, is now out there for order from Collins Bus Company, one of many main US faculty bus producers.

The E-Transit is at the moment the chief of the US electrical van market, with about 60% of final yr’s EV van gross sales. However the E-Transit isn’t only a cargo van; you too can purchase it as a cutaway chassis which might then be upfitted with varied containers on the again, relying on what area of interest you need the automobile to fill.

Collins is a bus producer that Ford has labored with to fill that area of interest with a conventional yellow American faculty bus on Ford’s all-electric chassis.

The bus is a “Kind A,” which is the smallest kind of faculty bus, usually constructed on a cutaway van chassis – like that of the E-transit. “Kind C” is the stereotypical purpose-built lengthy, yellow bus that the majority typically involves thoughts when pondering of faculty buses.

The E-Transit faculty bus will be capable of maintain a dozen seated passengers or eight seated passengers and two wheelchairs in an alternate flooring plan.

It maintains the 68 kWh capability of the E-Transit van, which is sweet for about 100 miles of vary after upfitting the automobile by means of Collins. The plain cargo E-Transit will get 126 miles of vary, in keeping with Ford, however 100 needs to be greater than sufficient for many faculty buses and their quick each day routes.

Collins will not be the one producer who will use Ford’s faculty bus package deal, however Ford needed to spotlight Collins because the two had labored collectively on the unique demo automobile proven again in March.

Ford additionally shared some further specs of its College Bus Prep Package deal with us:

Ford’s Kind A College Bus Prep Package deal is obtainable on E-Transit T-350 low roof prolonged 178” single-rear-wheel cutaway and contains these options to stick with faculty bus chassis compliance necessities:

• Security Glass (65B)
• Proper Hand Door Delete (60X)
• Twin AGM Batteries (63E)
• Separate Cease Flip Tail Lamp – LED Enabled (43Q)
• Auxiliary Fuse Panel with Excessive Spec Interface Connector (87E)
• Twin-note Horn (85D)
• Modified Automobile Wiring System (53K)

Different specs distinctive to this providing embrace: 

• Professional Energy Onboard
• Twin-I-Beam entrance suspension
• Tilt Steering
• TorqShift® five-speed computerized overdrive transmission
• Entrance stabilizer bar with HD entrance and rear shock

Notably, the bus has Ford’s Professional Energy Onboard, which is the corporate’s branding for its bidirectional charging characteristic. This allows some attention-grabbing use circumstances for college buses, which spend a lot of every day parked.

We just lately noticed a Canadian city utilizing Lion Electrical faculty buses to maintain heat throughout emergencies, so the E-Transit faculty bus may doubtlessly do one thing comparable (although its battery is 2-3x smaller than the LionC’s, which is a a lot bigger and dearer Kind C bus). And its twin AGM batteries will assist energy auxiliary local weather controls in chilly or sizzling climate.

Extra virtually, bidirectional charging will also be used for grid resiliency or to offset soiled vitality within the grid throughout peak hours, that are attention-grabbing potential use circumstances for college districts (and typically, they can be utilized to generate profits, too, by means of vitality arbitrage at completely different occasions of day).

Pricing is predicated on the price of a Ford E-Transit cutaway plus further upfit prices from the distributor. The cutaway itself begins at $49,575, which is about $9k greater than the fuel model. However that’s earlier than varied EV faculty bus incentives and the Clear College Bus program, which might make these extremely low-cost for districts.

It is a huge distinction from different electrical faculty buses, which might price thrice as a lot as their fuel counterparts.

The bus is out there for order now, and you may contact your native Collins bus supplier for extra info.

Electrek’s Take

We love seeing the electrification of presidency automobiles like this – buses, rubbish vehicles, mail supply automobiles, and many others.

Oftentimes, the obligation cycle for these automobiles is ideal for electrification. They do quick, predefined routes daily. They cease and begin loads. They drive by means of residential communities the place noise and air air pollution are even much less fascinating than in all places else. And so they should be dependable. Electrification is an ideal answer.

For college buses, it’s much more vital as a result of younger youngsters journey in them, and having higher air high quality is further vital to younger lungs. Air air pollution from automobiles is a serious contributor to childhood bronchial asthma, so getting our children away from soiled diesel buses is of paramount significance.

Individuals appear to essentially love electrical faculty buses, which is why they’ve been taking off across the US. In simply the final six months, the variety of dedicated electrical faculty bus purchases within the US has virtually doubled. And that quantity will in all probability go even increased after California’s new electrical truck rule, which was applied final week.

We’ll get an opportunity to have a look at Ford’s electrical faculty bus this week at ACT Expo, the trade’s largest superior truck expo, happening from Could 1-4 in Anaheim.