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Concord School Committee reviews Knox Trail EV chargers and electric-bus pilot
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Summary
Officials and staff described a state-grant-funded plan to install bidirectional EV chargers at the Knox Trail bus depot and reviewed an offer to repurpose five electric buses, framing the work as a pilot to test vehicle-to-grid savings and operational impacts.
Concord School Committee members on April 15 heard details of a state-funded project to add electric-vehicle charging infrastructure at the Knox Trail bus depot and discussed a pilot to add several electric school buses to the district fleet.
Facilities director Bob presented the project timeline and financing: a Mass CEC grant will fund installation of a transformer and conduit to support faster, bidirectional chargers at the depot; trenching and environmental soil testing are under way, with on-site electrical work and software commissioning expected to be completed in mid to late May 2026. Bob said the grant’s contractor will install the physical pads and charging hardware and a separate software vendor will commission the system.
The chargers are bidirectional, meaning the buses can feed electricity back to the grid during peak demand. Bob said one aim is to test whether vehicle-to-grid operations could generate savings for the municipal light plant that would, in turn, help fund future bus purchases. "One of the goals of this project is to test bidirectional charging," he said.
Committee members were also briefed on a prospective arrangement with Highland Fleet Solutions to repurpose five electric buses being released by another district. Under the described structure, Highland would provide the buses and a management contract that covers repairs and preventative maintenance; the district would pay an operating fee (presenters discussed an illustrative per-bus figure used for modeling) but would not pay for fuel. Bob said Highland’s model appeared financially viable on paper but that the district would need to see a finalized proposal before making any commitment.
Committee members asked operational questions about range, charging speed and maintenance. Bob said the district currently has two functioning electric buses and would not immediately retire diesel buses; the plan is to add electric vehicles incrementally while staff and mechanics build operational experience. He emphasized that faster chargers and improved range compared with older equipment are part of the rationale for the pilot.
The committee did not take a formal vote on procurement or contracts at the meeting; members said they want to review Highland’s written proposal and the final grant scopes before approving any agreement. The committee’s facilities team said it will return with the detailed contract and cost proposals before any commitment is made.
