SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — GreenPower Motor Company has received its largest order to date for the electric school buses manufactured at the company’s South Charleston factory. The state of West Virginia put in the order for 41 of the company’s buses, valued at $15 Million.
“It’s a very large order for us. We’re a fairly new company to the school bus base and we’ve been developing this product since 2015. This is going to be the first order really for buses out of our West Virginia plant,” said company President Brendan Riley.
The order will give the West Virginia Department of Education 37 of the company’s 90-passenger Type-D buses called “The Beast.” The order also calls for production of four of the company’s 25-foot “Nano Beast” models which seat 24 passengers. The order is part of an incentive package which lured the Vancouver based company to locate its eastern United States operations in West Virginia. The buses are due for delivery by the end of 2024.
Speaking about the order on MetroNews “Talkline” Riley said unlike other automotive manufacturers, the supply chain issues haven’t been as big an obstacle for their operations.
“Batteries have not been a big bottleneck for us. We’ve not had as big an impact as some of the legacy automakers with semi-conductors that have caused cars to be so impacted,” he explained.
A lot off the sheet metal used in the production of the GreenPower buses is manufactured by Constellium Rolled Products in Ravenswood. Riley said the relationship with Constellium has been extremely strong and productive.
Along with the bus orders, the state of West Virginia purchased the 80-thousand square foot manufacturing facility in the South Charelston Industrial Park where the company has set up shop. The state spent $6.7 Million for the former Smith Fastener location. GreenPower can purchase it on a lease-purchase agreement with the state, which could be lowered to $3.5 Million if the company can reach a payroll of 900 employees.
Riley said they need people now, especially for the new order, and they’re recruiting.
The company maintains a manufacturing operation and sales in California, but recently moved its Human Resources facility to West Virginia and is working with Bridge Valley Community and Technical College on employee training.
Kanawha County’s Board of Education made its own purchase of one of the Beast models. The company has made sales presentations to 18 other West Virginia counties about the products.