Step-by-Step Guide | October 17, 2022

Step 4.2: Test Fleet and Charging Equipment


Overview

Commissioning is a quality assurance process of testing, verifying and documenting a new electric school bus and its accompanying charging infrastructure to ensure it operates as intended. Once your buses arrive and chargers are installed, you should thoroughly examine and test all new equipment to ensure that it meets the specifications within your contract and procurement order. 

You will also want to ensure that chargers operate as expected and that electric school buses will work for their proposed routes and can be operated safely before transporting students.

It is best practice to test your electric school buses on all proposed routes and under different weather and road conditions to learn how they may impact your range. For example, you may expect that hilly routes might lower your range but then find that regenerative braking downhill restores the battery significantly. 

Things to do:

  • Test your new electric school buses on all proposed routes
  • Test chargers and charging software
  • Test seatbelts, wheelchair lifts, tie-down areas and any other accessibility features included on the electric school buses
  • Design charging procedures and schedules, as well as procedures for low- or no-charge scenarios
  • Test vehicle data communication and onboard operating systems
  • Work with dispatch and scheduling teams to adjust proposed route and charging plans based on test results

Ways to include equity:

  • Ensure electric school buses can run all routes as proposed and test performance and safety under different conditions
  • Evaluate whether safety protocols needed to be changed—for example, adding a sound to quiet electric school buses for safety
  • Include students with diverse disabilities to test the actual functionality of new accessibility features

Questions to consider:

  • Are all the specifications correct?
  • Can the electric school buses run the routes as proposed? How do they perform under different conditions?
  • Do you need to adjust charging schedules?
  • Do students and/or drivers have any adjustment requests or safety concerns?
  • Are drivers and maintenance workers properly trained and able to manage and maintain the new electric school buses?
  • Who is responsible for ensuring vehicles are plugged in and properly charging?
  • Who is responsible for internally reporting issues with charging?
  • Who is responsible for following up with manufacturers on issues and needed repairs?

Potential stakeholders:

  • District transportation director
  • District fleet manager
  • District facilities manager
  • District energy manager
  • District dispatch staff
  • Students and parents
  • School bus contractor (if applicable)
  • Drivers and associated union representatives
  • Maintenance workers and associated union representatives
  • Manufacturers/dealers/as-a-service companies

Resources:

Share