This integration of technology and safety features on a school bus will be a trend that we see going forward . One of those pieces is powertrain choices and electric propulsion , that is probably the biggest change coming in the school industry . Obviously , some of that is being driven by government regulation incentives . We are seeing the California Air Resource Board ( CARB ) and other states with Memorandums of Understanding following CARB . That is really going to move the needle away from diesel and into electric and gasoline , because gasoline will probably be able to meet those standards as well along with propane . The biggest question is , between now and 2025 , what does electric vehicle ( EV ) adoption look like ? Driven by the regulation and all the other things we are seeing within the Biden administration , it is definitely going to be a big and impactful change . It is not like introducing a propane or gasoline engine . This is a big , big change and there is an impact to service and maintenance . The dealer support model might look different . As exciting as it is , there is a lot of work to do in this industry – and our customers are going to have to digest a lot of change coming with the adoption of electric .
How is IC Bus positioned to meet those changes ?
Our goal is to be a leader in safety in the school bus industry . It is an opportunity to bring this automotive technology into the school bus faster and in the most economical way for our customers . We have been a pioneer in that . Being able to integrate these features into the school bus industry as we continue to introduce future safety pieces . As Navistar we have a huge advantage because we can leverage our truck scale and all the safety components that go on to our trucks . That makes it easy for us to standardize electric stability control and active collision mitigation in our school buses . We have the best range of electric vehicles in the industry , with three levels of regenerative braking , V2G ready . If we really want to make electric successful in the school bus industry , we all must be very thoughtful about the product , the infrastructure , and everything surrounding it . That is what we have been doing . We are not here to push customers into electric . We are here to help the customer make the best decision that is right for them and their fleet , their students , and parents . That is important , as we move forward , for the longevity of electric .
How do you view the future of alternative propulsion , including electric vehicles ( EV ), progressing ? How do you see other forms of alternative propulsion staking their claim ?
There are still a lot of questions about the adoption between now and 2025 . Obviously , a lot of news that we have seen around the Biden administration is supporting zero-emissions . We are active in that , but again , we are very prudent to say infrastructure is a big piece of it . You have to have the infrastructure in place to make zero-emissions adoption successful . The question is how fast does this go between now and 2025 ? Some of that depends on the customer experience . With the electric school bus , I do think by 2030 it will be close to , if not majority , of new bus sales . It makes sense for a lot of reasons . We work through some of these growing and learning pains . By the time we get to 2030 , it will be a proven go-to technology within the school bus world . We were thoughtful about bringing the product to market . We have a lot of quotes in the pipeline , which is exciting . Electric is exciting .
E-mobility and emerging technologies are really what is on the horizon in the future . That takes significant investment , time , and energy . I think diesel will continue to be a player in the market until we get to 2030 . We might see an increase in gasoline adoption , as some states move to CARB . The question is , what about propane ? CNG is maybe one percent of new school bus sales . I just do not see CNG staying in play with the CARB movement .
Many states are endorsing major EV incentives . Do you think that kind of government direction can help with adoption in smaller cities ?
It takes funding , infrastructure , and government regulation to really drive that change . Government regulation and whatever the current administration is willing to do to support the funding of infrastructure and adoption of EV is what will really drive that implementation . The important thing is buses must be on time to pick up students . How do we make sure that continues to happen with the transition to electric ? There are a lot of considerations that come with supporting that adoption . California is certainly taking the lead , but you have many other states that have really committed to zero-emissions . It takes time
28 | SCHOOL-BUSRIDE . COM | AUGUST 2021