WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — National Express, LLC., White Plains City School District, Con Edison, NYSERDA, The Lion Electric Co. and First Priority GreenFleet, announced yesterday the deployment of the first five all-electric Type C school buses in the state of New York, to White Plains, N.Y.
“The White Plains School District is very excited at the prospect of using electric school buses,” announced Dr. Joseph Ricca, superintendent of White Plains Public Schools. “With Lion Electric providing five buses to our contractor, National Express, our children will experience the most technologically advanced means of transportation and our community will benefit from the positive environmental impact. We’re anxious to roll out the buses in September, and continue working to identify innovative and sustainable measures throughout our district.”
National Express will operate the buses and pay the energy costs during the school year. Joe Baker, VP of operations at National Express, LLC., said that the company is “delighted to partner with both Lion and White Plains school district to deliver the first Type C electric school buses to New York state. It is inspiring to be first in the transformational movement that is happening across the transportation space. The future is electric.”
John Shipman, the department manager of demonstration projects for Con Edison also said that “We think school buses have the unique potential to help us keep our service reliable and contribute to a clean environment.”
He commented that these buses “will provide clean transportation for students during the school year and be available to us for grid support during the summer, which is when the batteries can provide the greatest benefit to our system. There’s a nice fit between the school schedule and our customers’ need for power.”
Lion has already deployed over 150 all-electric school buses in the last two years across North America, with more than 2 million miles driven.
“We believe that electrifying school buses is the only solution that makes sense environmentally, socially and economically,” said Tony Watkins, Lion’s VP of sales. “This pilot would not have been made possible without the trust and vision of our partners at National Express, LLC, White Plains Public School District, NYSERDA, Con Edison and First Priority Greenfleet. White Plains continues to confirm its role as one of the greenest school districts in New York state and the nation, and furthering its position at the forefront of technological advances.”
First Priority GreenFleet, Lion’s dealer in California, New York and New Jersey, has been a major player and key to the success of this process. “We take pride in providing our school district partners an end-to-end one-stop-shop solution that includes infrastructure, service, technician and driver training,” said Alex Cherepakhov, CEO of First Priority GreenFleet. “We have helped many school districts secure grants and deployed more electric school buses in the United States than the rest of the industry combined, supported by the largest independent commercial electric vehicle service organization in the country.”
Peter Rego, Lion’s chief commercial officer USA, also stated that, “This pilot is a fantastic initiative for the future of New York’s clean transportation industry. Lion has provided technical and maintenance training to the owners. We believe that offering best-in-class after-market product assistance is key to this pilot’s success.”
