STUTTGART, Germany/PORTLAND, Ore. — In Virginia, students will soon be transported to school in all-electric buses.
Thomas Built Buses, the North American Daimler Trucks subsidiary, was recently selected to provide the first 50 fully-electric versions of the iconic black and yellow school buses, in the first step of an initiative by Virginia based power company Dominion Energy.
Dominion plans to switch 1,050 of the school buses in Virginia from diesel to electrically powered ones, executives announced.
As a result, the American Daimler Trucks subsidiary has won the largest order to date for electric school buses in the U.S., Daimler formally announced this week.
The electric battery technology for the Jouley is the result of cooperation with California company Proterra. The Jouley boasts a total power capacity of 220 kWh and an estimated range of 134 miles.
At present, Thomas Built Buses is the only school bus manufacturer to offer DC fast-charging architecture as standard equipment.
The locally emissions-free Jouley can be charged in about three hours with the optional Proterra 60 kW fast-charging system, company officials said. When properly equipped, the vehicle will be able to supply power back to the power grid, using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. www.daimler-truck.com
