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

The E-Transit is at present 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 can too purchase it as a cutaway chassis which may then be upfitted with numerous 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 standard yellow American college bus on Ford’s all-electric chassis.

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

The E-Transit college bus will have the ability to maintain a dozen seated passengers or eight seated passengers and two wheelchairs in an alternate ground 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 Collins. The plain cargo E-Transit will get 126 miles of vary, based on Ford, however 100 must be greater than sufficient for many college buses and their quick each day routes.

Collins is just not the one producer who will use Ford’s college bus package deal, however Ford wished 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 Faculty Bus Prep Package deal with us:

Ford’s Sort A Faculty 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 college 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 instances for varsity buses, which spend a lot of every day parked.

We not too long ago noticed a Canadian city utilizing Lion Electrical college buses to maintain heat throughout emergencies, so the E-Transit college bus may doubtlessly do one thing related (although its battery is 2-3x smaller than the LionC’s, which is a a lot bigger and costlier Sort C bus). And its twin AGM batteries will assist energy auxiliary local weather controls in chilly or scorching climate.

Extra virtually, bidirectional charging may also be used for grid resiliency or to offset soiled power within the grid throughout peak hours, that are attention-grabbing potential use instances for varsity districts (and typically, they can be utilized to earn money, too, by power arbitrage at totally 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 numerous EV college bus incentives and the Clear Faculty Bus program, which may make these extremely low cost for districts.

It is a massive distinction from different electrical college buses, which may value 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 data.

Electrek’s Take

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

Oftentimes, the responsibility cycle for these autos is ideal for electrification. They do quick, predefined routes every single day. They cease and begin lots. They drive by residential communities the place noise and air air pollution are even much less fascinating than in every single place else. And so they must be dependable. Electrification is an ideal answer.

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

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

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