Submitted by alexd231232 t3_yjntuv in nyc
actualtext t1_iup1vyi wrote
That’s $362,745 per bus. Some insight into that would be great. Without knowing what a school bus typically costs, that seems kind of high? Is it a NY price because you gotta charge the city more just cause l? Or is it just because electric buses are rarer and more expensive? Is it because of the batteries? Maybe something else? Hopefully over time they get cheaper.
elizabeth-cooper t1_iup7j2o wrote
>The average electric bus costs roughly 60% more than a diesel bus, MTA officials say. A Columbia University study says electric buses cost roughly $300,000 more per bus than diesel. Electric buses used during a pilot program in the White Plains schools cost $365,000 each compared to $110,000 for diesel.
actualtext t1_iupd83x wrote
Thanks for sharing that. That’s an quite insightful article. So it sounds like it’s just costly in general at the moment. There’s also the transitional costs, but it sounds like once that transition takes place and more buses are ordered/produced, there will be more competition and lower costs longer term.
It’s nice we’re moving towards electric and suspect that in the aggregate the impact is a net positive. The article goes into things that aren’t so explicitly stated but easy to forget such as the fact that pollution has a cost. An example shared in the article:
> Their research cited a state comptroller’s report which found that asthma costs taxpayers $1.3 billion every year. “The number one cause of absenteeism in New York is asthma, much of which is related to air pollution,” said Julie Tighe, the league’s president.
Anyways, happy we’re making strides in this direction. We just need to start getting more serious about producing green energy now. Some of the deals to get hydro energy signed earlier this year by Hochul is a great start. Maybe these bus depots, can investigate the use of solar panels to further reduce costs? Not sure what that would look like but I’m guessing battery storage so that buses can charge at night.
It sucks that this article either intentionally or unintentionally did not go any further into investigating the reason these school buses were so costly. The headline and price tag will make people assume we’re wasting money or being overcharged when that doesn’t seem to be the case.
letsnotdolunch t1_iurp5wg wrote
But that's 332% more for EV over diesel in White Plains, not anywhere close to 60%.
elizabeth-cooper t1_iurq173 wrote
The first two sentences are talking about city buses, not school buses.
Oriin690 t1_iutl986 wrote
All of those numbers are wildly different. So according to the mta a diesel bus is normally like 225k, the Columbia says electric is 300k more so it shoukd be only 65k for a diesel bus, and the white plains says it's 110k for diesel
kuedhel t1_iuplcl8 wrote
by why? Tesla does not cost 60% more than an ICE car. Sounds like some sort of corruption is going on. Should we call Musk to provide an electric bus as well?
Rhino_Thunder t1_iupq7y3 wrote
Maybe something due to the scale of it. Same reason a bus uses a Diesel engine instead of a normal gas engine
foradil t1_iupxjga wrote
The school buses are built on a truck base, so most of the moving parts are not specific to school buses.
ethanarc t1_iuqbuy5 wrote
But the battery will likely need to be quite a bit larger to move the heavier and less aerodynamic school bus, which is always by far the biggest component cost of an EV.
Daxtatter t1_iurg55r wrote
Also at this point electric school buses are basically a boutique item, and it doesn't say how old that cited research is.
It also doesn't mention how much less maintenance electric vehicles have which is a huge expense.
shotpun t1_ius53z6 wrote
also doesn't mention the costs reduced by fewer pollutants
112-411 t1_iuum5im wrote
A bus uses diesel instead of gas because torque.
Kaekru t1_iuprni8 wrote
The same reason why Tesla started by selling 100k plus cars, scale of production.
AlexanderRussell t1_iuskx9i wrote
No, we want buses that don't kill children
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