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Board weighs replacing nine buses as district grapples with EV charging limits
Summary
Staff recommended replacing nine large buses and laid out diesel and mixed EV/diesel options after operational problems with EV charge management left several EV buses frequently out of service; state grants for EVs and a $61,250 scrappage add‑on were discussed.
Transportation and operations staff told the board that nine large buses were identified for replacement and recommended diesel vehicles for the near term because of persistent EV operational issues.
John Hazelton, assistant director in charge of the fleet, and director of transportation Ellen Dorado described trouble getting the district’s EV fleet to function with the charge-management platform. Staff said chargers and bus battery configurations currently result in sequential charging — a bus plugged into a multi‑port charger will tend to charge to high state‑of‑charge before another bus begins — preventing the flexible, staggered charging managers expected. That behavior has increased downtime for some EVs and complicated route planning.
The board was presented with three replacement mixes: a largely diesel replacement (nine diesel buses, estimated gross cost about $1.6 million with net local cost after state aid of roughly $580,000) and alternative mixes with one to three EVs funded through a state bus‑improvement voucher (base voucher cited as about $147,000 with add‑ons and a scrappage add‑on of $61,250 per bus). Staff explained that selecting EVs with the scrappage add‑on would reduce local taxpayer impact but would require scrapping existing buses and working through warranty and operational concerns.
Board members pressed staff about charger capacity (staff said the campus has theoretical capacity to charge up to 19 vehicles but current hardware and bus firmware limit practical throughput), warranty timelines (staff said early EVs have roughly two years of warranty remaining) and the risk that future state mandates could restrict diesel purchases without a waiver. Staff said they are working with vendors (including the charge‑management vendor and vehicle manufacturers) to resolve the charge‑management limitations but recommended the board provide guidance on the bus proposition language at the next meeting to meet ballot deadlines.
The board requested additional detail and asked staff to prepare language and cost scenarios for March 18 along with the budget materials.
