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Ventura District Rolls Out Plug-In Hybrid School Bus
Ventura Unified School District students will now ride around in a state-of-the-art, plug-in hybrid electric school bus — the first in Southern California.
The new bus replaces a polluting 1977 model, and is one of the first commercially available plug-in hybrids. The bus was unveiled Tuesday by local elected officials at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and news conference.
Plug-in hybrids are like super-efficient regular hybrid vehicles, but with larger batteries, advanced electronics and a capacity to plug in to the grid, allowing for the vehicles to partially run on clean electricity. Electric motors are as much as three times as efficient as internal combustion engines and can be powered by renewable energy. Thus a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle that parks near and draws power from a building with solar panels can literally be “driving on sunshine.”
“We are thrilled to be the first district in Southern California to have a plug-in hybrid bus,” said Dr. Trudy Arriaga, superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District. “The bus reflects our commitment to being a green school district, as we ensure safe and healthy learning environments for our students. Ventura Unified School District is on the cutting edge of providing safe, healthy and environmentally sound transportation to our students.”
The new bus is a result of a nationwide initiative called the Plug-In Hybrid Electric School Bus Project.
The Community Environmental Council, based in Santa Barbara, applied for funding through the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.
“While school buses are first to the market, consumer plug-in hybrid cars will soon be available from many manufacturers,” said Michael Chiacos, transportation specialist for the Community Environmental Council. “Plug-in hybrids and electric cars are the largest revolution in a century of vehicles. As electric motors are three times as efficient as gasoline motors, and can be powered by renewable electricity, plug-in cars will help us transition to a future free from dependence on imported fossil fuels.”
Brian Brennan, a member of the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District board and Ventura City Council, also praised the new bus.
“We are excited to support those technologies that improve air quality and fuel economy, reduce global warming gas emissions and decrease our dependence on imported oil,” he said. “Hybrid passenger vehicles are fairly common these days, and this lithium-ion battery powered plug-in hybrid school bus is an important next step toward promoting the next generation of more efficient and less polluting vehicles. Hybrids for buses and trucks are especially needed since they emit about 34 percent of the total vehicle ozone-precursor emissions.”
— Michael Chiacos is an energy program transportation specialist for the Community Environmental Council.
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» on 01.27.10 @ 08:06 PM
Big deal….. Santa Barbara’s MTD has been using them for years
» on 01.28.10 @ 10:19 AM
In response to SB Res, you are incorrect - there is a large difference between regular hybrid vehicles (which yes, MTD and many local hybrid users have been using for years) and PLUG-IN hybrid vehicles. As mentioned in the article, the latter have larger batteries and can plug in to the grid, thus can use clean electricity as an alternative fuel.
Thus instead of achieving a fuel economy boost of around 30%, like typical hybrids, this bus could increase fuel economy up to 65%, plus some electricity.
Another exciting development was that local solar company Planet Solar has offered to donate a 2.5 kW solar system to Ventura Unified - this will produce enough electricity for the electric portion of the driving cycle and means the bus will at time be truly “running on sunshine.”
» on 01.28.10 @ 01:47 PM
You mean it doesn’t take coal and oil to make Electricity anymore? Does electricity just come out of clouds?
» on 01.28.10 @ 03:32 PM
Nice summary Michael. That’s super cool to hear such a technology is now market ready.
In response to the previous post… our grid electricity here in SB/Ventura is some of the cleanest in the nation, with less than 15% coming from coal. The CEC lists the table on their website.
http://www.cecsb.org/storage/communityenvironmentalcouncil/documents/transpoch6_evs.pdf
So it is a big deal when we can use electricity. It’s cleaner and more efficient now, and will continue to be cleaner as CA brings more renewables online.
And before anyone asks… no, I don’t work for the CEC.
» on 01.29.10 @ 10:24 AM
Good article, Michael. This is exciting. As an engineer, I’m going to split hairs with “Electric motors are as much as three times as efficient”. I really doubt that’s exactly correct. But they are as little as one-third as expensive to fuel, due to electricity’s being much cheaper than gasoline. And there is regenerative braking that reduces energy use. So in spirit, your assertion is roughly functionally right.
» on 01.30.10 @ 01:54 PM
I am a Conservative Republican and Global Warming non-Believer, but I do see merit in Plug-In Hybrid Cars, Trucks, and Buses mainly because it leaves more Gasoline for me. I noticed that the Bus is recharged by Solar panels which means that the bus is not emitting any Carbon emissions at all. Vehicles recharged by Nuclear also do not emit any Carbon emissions at all. The Problem is when the Hybrids are charged with dirty rotten Coal powered plants which make up to 75% of our power in the U.S. I was pleased to see that Obama admitted he was wrong about Nuclear and is not advocating its development. Hopefully we will see more reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and more plants coming online in the future. Hopefully his words will not be hollow. It seems to me that Nuclear is something that Dems and Repubs can both agree on.
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