First Student, the largest student transportation provider in North America, says it is ordering 260 all-electric LionC school buses from the Lion Electric Co.
This is the largest order of school buses by a single customer in Lion’s history, and the order will make First Student the largest operator of zero-emission school buses in North America. Deliveries will take place beginning in the second half of the year through the first half of 2023. The buses will be used by Transco, First Student’s subsidiary that operates in Quebec.
“This order marks a new step in the adoption of zero-emission school buses,” says Marc Bedard, founder and CEO of Lion. “First Student’s leadership demonstrates that zero-emission technology is here to meet the needs of the market at scale, as is our production capacity – we are not talking about pilot programs but rather entire bus fleets going electric, with vehicles that meet the daily requirements of the industry’s largest operators.”
The company already operates a number of Lion all-electric school buses. As part of the purchase, the LionEnergy team will strategically work with First Student for the selection and installation of necessary infrastructure so that the operator can adequately scale its zero-emission operations.
Over the last decade, Lion has delivered over 390 all-electric heavy-duty vehicles in North America with over 7 million miles driven since 2016. All of Lion’s vehicles are purpose-built for electric propulsion from the ground up and are manufactured at Lion’s North American facility, which has a current capacity to produce 2,500 electric trucks per year.