A major barrier to market acceptance of plug-in hybrid electric school buses has been the high cost at more than $200,000 per; but manufacturer IC Bus announced today that the price is continuing in a southwardly direction.
When the bus hit the market in 2007, the incremental cost was about $300,000 per bus. Initially, 20 buses were delivered to schools in 19 states, with the cost of all being shouldered mostly by local air quality management districts. But IC Bus today announced its PHEVs are coming down in price by $6,000 each. And schools may now receive a $12,000 per vehicle federal hybrid tax credit when purchasing a 2007 through 2010 model year IC Bus hybrid, and another $5,000 hybrid tax credit from the California Air Resources Board.
In April, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that IC Bus would receive $10 million to develop 60 next-generation, diesel hybrid-electric school buses over the next three years. Those buses will be capable of all-electric drive for extended periods of time, the company said.
“IC Bus understands that many school bus customers have fixed budgets, and we recognize that a price decrease, along with state and federal hybrid incentives, will allow more school districts to purchase hybrid school buses,” said John McKinney, president of IC Bus.
The buses run on a MaxxForce diesel engine and an electric motor and battery pack of a hybrid drive system developed by Enova. Latest company figures indicate fuel economy is increased by up to 65 percent while carbon dioxide emissions are cut by up to 39 percent.
