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There have been many news stories recently about several Maine school districts that are having serious problems with their electric school buses.
The buses were manufactured by Canadian company Lion Electric, a relative newcomer to the school bus industry.
The news stories about Lion have unfortunately given people the impression that electric school buses are inherently unreliable and unsafe; however, it is important to know that Lion is not the only manufacturer of electric school buses, and the problems with Lion buses are not endemic to electric school buses in general.
On the contrary, all of the “big three” American school bus manufacturers — Blue Bird Corp., IC Bus and Thomas Built Buses — offer electric versions of their buses.
Blue Bird manufactured its first school bus in 1927, and built the first electric school bus in 1994. IC, originally known as Ward Body Works, has been building school buses since 1936. Thomas, originally known as Perley A. Thomas Car Works, started building electric trolleys and streetcars in 1916, and built its first school bus in 1936.
School buses built by Blue Bird, IC and Thomas can be found all over Maine, from Kittery to Fort Kent and everywhere in between. They have been safely and reliably transporting Maine children to and from school for many decades. Drivers and transportation directors trust them; mechanics know how to fix them; dealers stock parts for them.
The question that school districts should be asking is not “Should we go electric?”; it is “Which electric bus should we buy?”
Adrian Dowling
South Portland
