First Student, a school transportation and technology provider to 2.75 million families in North America, has created First Charge, an above-ground, trenchless charging infrastructure solution that enables a more efficient deployment of electric vehicles.
First Charge is designed to simplify the electrification process for all school districts, eliminating the need for time-intensive and cost-prohibitive trenching, even in cold weather climates. The system also can support other last-mile services for medium- and heavy-duty EVs including dump trucks, garbage trucks and postal/delivery vehicles.
This system can save districts up to 50% on construction costs, and its expansion-ready design allows districts to easily scale their infrastructure. The flexible design is helpful for districts that want to grow their electric school bus fleets over time. First Charge is optimized for each electric school bus deployment.
“First Charge is a game-changer in our industry because it allows school districts to focus critical resources on what matters most: educating students,” says John Kenning, First Student’s CEO. “For school districts that want to or need to electrify their bus fleets without spending years building infrastructure or constraining their capital budgets, this kind of modular approach is faster, more affordable and handles expansion better than existing systems.”
First Student has deployed more than 360 electric school buses in communities across the United States and Canada.
First Charge can support up to 25 electric school buses per power management module. Most firms, hired by school districts to design a power distribution solution to promote effective electric school bus operations, choose to bury cable underground. That requires digging and trenching, an expensive approach that limits future expansion and is disruptive to residents, businesses and operations. Once buried, the infrastructure can no longer be modified to accommodate changing lot requirements as a school district grows its electric school bus fleet.
“Over and over again, school districts tell us they have had to abandon rebates and funds available to them because charging infrastructure was too costly, complex or time-intensive,” says Kevin Matthews, First Student’s head of Electrification. “We designed First Charge to solve that problem. It is the first truly drop-and-go infrastructure solution. First Charge allows districts to spend their time and money on operations, student safety and other essential tasks while staying compliant with state or federal electrification mandates. It also rapidly advances electrification to take advantage of the health and safety benefits that electric school buses provide to students and communities.”
First Student pairs First Charge with an energy management solution for customers called Charging as a Service (CaaS). The CaaS offering handles energy procurement, charge management and fleet maintenance, allowing districts to focus on transportation operations while First Student’s First Services division manages the charging infrastructure. It is also offered on a monthly subscription basis.