Reardan is a small farming community about 22 miles west of Spokane, in a part of the state known for its bitter cold temperatures in the winter, even without snow. Edwall is a small unincorporated area about 35 miles SW of Spokane, it used to be part of the Steptoe-Edwall District.
Reardan-Edwall Schools have to park their first E-bus.
The RE District was one of a number (including Walla Walla, College Place, and others) that received new electric school buses through a variety of government grant programs, mostly Federal, some from the EPA.
Now, according to The Center Square, the District has asked for modifications to its second bus coming later this year.
The Square says some of these Districts are conducting a de-facto ‘test’ with their EV buses, finding out operationally if they will withstand the cold.
According to The Square:
“Parking it” from about Nov. 1 to March 1 is what the Republic School District has had to do with its first electric school bus, put into service in 2021.
“The main thing is the cold weather when it’s hovering around zero to ten above,” said Jim Burnside, transportation supervisor for the district. “The Blue Bird [school bus manufacturer] will not keep up with the heating.”
Models vary and it depends on the features installed, but the typical e-bus is at least three times the cost of a conventional diesel model, and it is a well-known fact extremely cold temps sap the life of the e-vehicle battery.
Additional heaters have been requested for the next round of deliveries to Reardan-Edwall, and for Republic. The District plans to put one of the e-buses on a route that covers about 105 miles a day, the range of the bus is around 200.
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Gallery Credit: Hannah Lang