Electric buses added to KCSOS fleet
Jan. 30—A coterie of silent machines have been let loose on our streets and are now coming for Oildale kids. And the kids? They couldn't be more excited.
"(Kids) asked me about it well before we (added) them in the lineup," said Delisa Owen, a local bus driver. "They're really excited and saying, 'We're fancy now.' But really, I feel like I'm the bougie one, driving this now."
Three 26-foot-long, battery-powered buses have been added to the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office's inventory, paid for by a $1.1 million state grant awarded by the California Energy Commission. Another grant from Pacific Gas & Electric paid for the charging stations.
"This is one step forward in the district stepping up to realize that clean air is what we need," said James McClellan, KCSOS director of transportation.
Unlike public buses, which are under strict state mandates, there are no deadlines that school officials need to follow in converting their fleet.
"Adding this is going to show to our districts that a combination of it is all good," McClellan said.
Each $360,000 Creative International CE is powered by a 315kWh battery that McClellan said gives the bus a range of 150 miles on a charge — not enough for field trips, but perfect for the county's shorter routes within city limits.
"Because of the service we offer in the county, our buses run almost 300 miles a day," McClellan said. "But there are some routes within the city limits that we've identified."
The buses will, starting Monday, incrementally replace three diesel coaches, which will be decommissioned. Their first electric bus will take over an 80-mile route, shorter than most within the county.
"We are the support for all of the districts," McClellan said. "We have routes that go all the way to Lost Hills, Delano, Taft, California City — that's our area. We bring students in from outlying areas and for the majority of our routes, these won't work."
According to an October 2022 report by the California Air Resources Board, the state has spent $1.2 billion on new school buses since 2002 and plans to drop another $1.8 billion over the next five years. Additionally, a lottery operated by the Environmental Protection Agency has begun awarding buses to schools nationwide. In short, buses will become available to those who apply.
"Older diesel school buses expose children to toxic emissions so it's essential that we move to cleaner technologies, particularly since children are among the most vulnerable to air pollution impacts," CARB Chair Liane Randolph said. "And helping school bus fleets transition to zero-emission vehicles has the added benefit of supporting our climate change and petroleum reduction goals."
KCSOS staff have already applied for seven more electric buses. If and when they receive them, McClellan said they plan to redraw their bus routes.
"And because the majority of our students are special needs, that's customary — it happens all the time," McClellan said.
Owen, during a test drive around the lot, said the bus feels like a big Tesla, or at least what she imagines a Tesla would feel like. On top of normal certification, the five drivers picked to man these vehicles had to complete state certification that included a written exam and a road test.
"There's a different feel and touch to those," McClellan said. "And you're not going to have the noise of a diesel engine; it's very quiet. So the driver has to train their hearing a little bit differently, and know what they're listening for."
And unlike a Tesla, McClellan said most of the maintenance can be done at their service yard in south Bakersfield. The trickiest part, which will require servicing by the manufacturer, is the battery. McClellan said they hope to get five to six years out of them, but added that newer batteries can actually be repaired by individual cells.
"It's actually pretty cool," McClellan said. "It's not this massive thing we need to replace — if a cell goes bad, they can easily replace them."
