School Bus Logistics (SBL), a logistics consultant that supports school districts across North America, and Microgrid Labs, a software company specializing in commercial fleet electrification and microgrids, are partnering to help school districts make the switch to electric buses.
In March, The Environmental Protection Agency issued the final version of a new rule that sets higher fuel efficiency standards for manufacturers producing school buses and other heavy-duty vehicles. This rule, set to go into effect in 2027, and will lead to 40% of school bus production being electric by 2032, according to the EPA’s regulatory impact analysis of the rule.
SBL helps school districts create efficient bus stops and routes to reduce costs. Their route optimization combines and streamlines routes, addressing ongoing driver shortages.
“When a district has a solid understanding of their future routes, we can more easily aid in evaluating their electric infrastructure needs,” said Chuck Ray, business development director at Microgrid Labs. “This involves modeling electric bus feasibility across the fleet, right-sizing the charging system, and assessing their district’s specific operations using our modeling platform, EVopt, to answer the critical questions about electrification.”
EVopt delivers data-driven insights and supports the life-cycle of fleet transition — plan, design, build, deploy, operate, and optimize. It leverages a fleet-as-a-system approach to model and simulate energy consumption for the local operating environment, determining the correct bus battery sizes for every route and optimizing the charging system design, which saves capital costs at every phase of electrification.
The platform uses data validation from national labs and proprietary algorithms co-developed through federal R&D.
The Clean School Bus Program from the EPA is helping districts, especially smaller, rural communities, to finance this change and usher in clean air for students on their way to learn.
Together, SBL and Microgrid Labs offer comprehensive consulting to help districts transition to electric bus fleets in a cost-effective, sustainable way. From route optimization to infrastructure planning and beyond, they work with districts to guide decision making for the best outcomes possible.
Filed Under: Technology News