The updated 2024 Electric School Bus Market Study and Electric School Bus U.S. Buyer's Guide are a comprehensive guide offering school districts and others an overview of the electric school bus market and a catalog that presents electric school bus models available today with detailed vehicle specifications.

Electric School Bus Market StudyElectric School Bus U.S. Buyer's Guide

These publications are intended to serve as a resource primarily for school districts, transportation directors and other school bus operators exploring school bus electrification and provide them with a better understanding of the state of the electric school bus market and available offerings. It aims to present the growing interest and investment in the sector along with key aspects of the current technology. 

A scan of the market explores the growing demand for these school buses and how manufacturers are positioning themselves to meet that demand along with broader social and environmental considerations. The catalog presents electric school bus models available today with detailed vehicle specifications allowing readers to compare various models and weigh important considerations.

Highlights

• Momentum for electric school buses (ESBs) continues to grow. As of June 2024, 1,514 school districts (or private operators) had committed to procuring 12,167 ESBs in 49 states. States and municipalities are setting electrification goals while manufacturers scale production. 
• Diesel exhaust pollution presents real health and development dangers to students, drivers, and communities. ESBs have zero tailpipe emissions of harmful air pollutants and the lowest greenhouse gas emissions of any school bus type, even when accounting for emissions from the generation of electric power. 
• Although diesel-burning school buses have a lower upfront cost, record funding is available for ESBs, and they have the potential for lower operations and maintenance costs. With funding, an electric school bus can have a total cost of ownership hundreds of thousands of dollars lower than a diesel-burning school bus.
• As of June 2024, 26 ESB models were available for Types A, C, and D buses: 20 newly manufactured models and 6 repowered models. Each generation of electric school buses becomes more advanced. The nameplate range of current models is between 100 and 300 miles, enough to reliably cover most routes in operation. 
• Beyond the bus, charging infrastructure and software to manage the charge are necessary components of successful electric school bus adoption and operations. Close and early collaboration with electric utilities and charge management software companies for support is necessary.

Context

Momentum around electric school buses (ESBs) continues to grow in the United States as school districts across the country transition to a cleaner and healthier technology, bolstered by multiple federal funding programs, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s $5 billion Clean School Bus Program. The ESB transition requires a coordinated effort among numerous entities, including school district leadership and staff, school bus and charging infrastructure manufacturers and contractors, utilities, policymakers, regulators, local advocacy organizations, and community members.

In the “Status of the Electric School Bus Market” section, we explore the growing demand and funding opportunities for these school buses and how manufacturers are positioning themselves to meet that demand. The second section, “Summary of available technology,” breaks down the key components of the vehicles, charging infrastructure, and charge management software, and outlines battery chem­istry, safety, and circularity. This section also highlights key trends in current ESB vehicle models, the industry and repowers (fossil fuel school buses that have been converted to electric). 

An accompanying publication— Electric School Bus U.S. Buyer’s Guide catalogs the 26 ESB models available as of June 2024, including vehicle specifications. Overall, school bus electrification is rapidly scaling, and the student transportation industry continues to make significant progress in this transition. 

Approach and Methodology

The content of Electric School Bus Market Study and Electric School Bus U.S. Buyer's Guide has been gathered from a variety of sources, compiling information on models available in the U.S. from publicly-available vehicle specifications sheets confirmed through discussions with bus manufacturers when possible.

We explore school district experiences with ESBs representing a variety of use cases in the U.S. – rural, suburban and urban; warm and cold weather, including extreme temperatures; and early adopters further along in their process, as well as those in earlier stages of procurement. We compiled recent research and reporting on school district commitments and experiences, and supplemented public information with conversations with school districts and other partners. We plan to update this publication annually as new vehicles come to market and existing models are altered.

This resource is one of many from WRI’s Electric School Bus Initiative and this update expands on the topics of batteries and charge management software.

Electric School Bus Market StudyElectric School Bus U.S. Buyer's Guide

Appendix: Electric School Bus Price Tracker — State-Level Sources

Find data on the current landscape of electric school bus prices in this appendix to the ESB Initiative's Electric School Bus U.S. Market Study and Buyer’s Guide.

Download Electric School Bus Price Tracker — State-Level Sources here.