Lynchburg City Schools held a ribbon cutting at Heritage High School to introduce 25, new electric buses. Some students in Lynchburg City Schools can expect a “quieter and healthier” ride to school as the division will receive 25 new electric school buses to use for the upcoming school year. School officials, representatives from Sonny Merryman and others gathered at Heritage High School for a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday, to introduce the new buses.
Reid Wodicka, deputy superintendent of operations and strategic planning, said the gathering was to celebrate a “historic investment” into Lynchburg City Schools’ transportation, adding it’s the largest investment of school buses the division has ever made. “This represents the work that has been going on for about two years, and we are thrilled to inaugurate our new 25 electric school buses,” Wodicka said, adding it’s also an important investment to the students. Hope Watts, director of transportation at LCS, said the ribbon cutting was “a monumental day” for Lynchburg City Schools.
“I’m thrilled that we have these buses ready for the first day of school,” she said. “This is a monumental moment for us and I look forward to being able to provide a quieter, cleaner environment for our students in our community.” Caley Edgerly, president and CEO of Sonny Merryman, said the company started 57 years ago in Rustburg and electric vehicles “kind of been” a science project for them the last four years.
The local, full-service bus dealer with a location on Wards Rd., has 225 electric vehicles on the road but the 25 electric buses to LCS is the “single biggest order we’ve ever taken.” The buses have a “big white box” on the top which are air conditioners and Edgerly explained the units are 126,000 BTU or British Thermal Units — a unit of measurement that shows how much energy an air conditioner uses to remove heat from indoor air.
He said overall, the buses are capable of 140 miles of range. “We think that this is a perfect application for Lynchburg city,” he said. Wodicka said students not only will benefit in the health and wellness aspects of the buses, but also will have opportunities to learn about sustainability in a way that is comfortable to them.
He also said the electric buses will enable students to have a quieter ride and the overall project brings important financial savings for the division. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts “We want to provide the highest quality, quietest ride ..
. as well as making sure that our students know that questions of sustainability can be a matter of abundance,” he said. “We have to invest, but we do not have to give up anything in order to be a sustainable partner in our community.
I think that’s important for our students, and we think it’s important for our community as well.” Wodicka said in total, there’s about 57 total routes day-to-day, and 25 of them will be traveled by the electric buses. Watts said so far, transportation began receiving the buses in February, and 23 out of 25 are in possession currently.
She said the buses are being paid for in part by a $10 million grant provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The grant provided the division $20,000 per bus to set up charging infrastructure. Additionally, it provided the division with $375,000 per bus and LCS paid an average of $406,000 per bus, making the total out of pocket cost $788,000 or $31,000 per vehicle on average, according to Watts.
However, through the Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government is offering a clean vehicle tax rebate that allows the division to recoup “every last penny” which makes the electric buses “completely free” to the division, Watts said. On Aug. 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the act into law which gives the U.
S. Department of Treasury the responsibility to implement tax incentives that spur investment in clean energy and manufacturing. Watts said because the division paid less than $40,000 for every bus, they’ll be able to recoup everything out of pocket.
In terms of saving, she said when you offset the cost of electricity and fuel, it results in a savings of $125,000 to $150,000 each year. Watts also told reporters, the buses have “all the bells and whistles”: heated mirrors, camera systems for safety and air conditioning. The buses also have regenerative braking — a recovery mechanism in which energy is extracted from the process of breaking, to be stored or reused.
“All of these little things really add up to a better experience for our students and our drivers. It gives our drivers the luxury that they deserve,” she said. Wodicka acknowledged Appalachian Electric Power, city government, Sonny Merryman and elected officials for their contributions to the project.
“A long time coming ...
we have been working on this for quite a while,” he said..
