This electric school bus has a range of up to 300 miles
The Type-D school bus uses a 387 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery.
@arstechnica what school bus needs 300miles/600km of range?!
@FrayJay @arstechnica School buses make up to six runs per day, and they are used for field trips. The miles can add up, especially in large, sparsely populated districts.
Also, I expect that range estimate can vary wildly in different climates and locales. If the bus needs to run air conditioning or go up and down hills, its range may drop precipitously.
@zop @bruce @arstechnica ac/heating are very good points but hills and stop and go are actually not that bad for electric vehicles with recuperation.
But what I m asking is: why 300miles if that's a full day of driving at the extreme? Can't they just recharge for 30min between trips if the max typical is 150miles? 300miles - That's 6 hours+ of non stop driving...no toilet break?
Haven't lived in rural US myself, so interesting insights, thanks.
@FrayJay @zop @arstechnica
Regenerative braking helps, but it's not a panacea. The bus will still use significantly more power than it would on a mostly flat route.
@FrayJay @arstechnica According to this: https://www.highschoolcube.com/how-far-can-school-buses-travel-in-a-day/ school buses travel about 100 to 200 miles a day