SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On Thursday morning, a GreenPower Motor Company-made electric school bus will leave the South Charleston bus garage for Kanawha County Schools and pick up children for the first time.
Kanawha County is one of three counties in a pilot program under GreenPower for six weeks. Kanawha County Schools (KCS) transportation staff and local first responders spent most of the day Wednesday going through final training on the new few buses.
According to KCS, the first bus will leave the South Charleston Bus Garage at 6:15 a.m. and cover the normal route of KCS Bus 1808 on the West Side of Charleston with a first drop-off of students at Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary around 7:15 a.m.
Fraser Atkinson, the CEO of Green Power Motor Company told the media Wednesday that Thursday is a step in the process for his company, KCS and the state. He said that if the buses can maintain an in-service level that is comparable to its existing fleet, the pilot would be deemed a success.
“Having them on the road and people getting familiar with them and seeing what the issues are. They are not perfect. There are things that come up. Being able to see what the reality is of the deployment is going to ease the level of adoption,” Atkinson said.
In August, local and state officials celebrated the opening of GreenPower Motor Company’s South Charleston manufacturing plant that will produce electric school buses. Atkinson said the company will be building 10 Nano BEAST. BEAST stands for Battery Electric Automotive School Transportation.
The company describes that as an all-electric 40-foot Type D battery-electric school bus with a range of up to 150 miles on a single charge via a 194kWh battery pack.
State officials said the operation will bring up to 200 new jobs to the state when manufacturing begins later this year, with the potential workforce to eventually reach up to 900 new jobs when full production is reached in 24 months.
Atkinson said it’s more than starting a facility but bringing additional safety for bus drivers and the students that ride on them. He compared the BEAST to the current diesel buses across the country. In the pilot underway in Mercer County, Atkinson said kids are not exposed to certain toxins, making them have more energy.
“On this thing, when we drop those kids off they don’t look like they lost a step. They were buoyant, active and ready to go. That’s one of the benefits,” Atkinson said.