GreenPower Motor Company Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of all-electric, zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, plans to deliver an additional 88 all-electric Type D BEAST and Type A Nano BEAST school buses to West Virginia school districts in GreenPower’s fiscal year 2025, which began April 1.
“GreenPower is currently manufacturing all-electric, purpose-built school buses purchased by the state of West Virginia in its South Charleston plant,” says Fraser Atkinson, CEO of GreenPower. “Following behind that production are the school buses awarded to seven school districts in West Virginia under Round 2 of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program.”
School buses for other eastern markets including New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia — as well as western markets including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon — are also in the fiscal 2025 production schedule.
In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded an $18,565,000 grant to GreenPower for deployment of its electric school buses in seven West Virginia counties. The grant includes funding for the charging infrastructure to ensure a proper strategy for deployment.
“These seven counties were leaders in the #YesWV GreenPower All-Electric School Bus Pilot Project conducted during the 2022-23 school year,” says Mark Nestlen, GreenPower’s vice president of Business Development & Strategy. “The pilot showed that, in fact, these buses worked well in the conditions and terrain of the Mountain State. The EPA funding for both the school buses and the charging infrastructure will ensure a safe and healthy ride for the students.”
Atkinson noted that once delivery is complete, nearly 100 GreenPower electric school buses will be operating in West Virginia.
“With the next tranche of deliveries, West Virginia will be a leading state in all-electric school bus deployment on a per capita basis,” says Atkinson.
The announcement of the planned deliveries comes on the heels of a record number of electric school bus deliveries during GreenPower’s just-ended 2024 fiscal year.
During fiscal year 2024, the firm delivered 29 Type D BEAST and 12 Type A Nano BEAST school buses nationwide, for a total of 41 deliveries — an increase of 356% from the previous fiscal year.
“Our production facilities in South Charleston, West Virginia, and Porterville, California, are all expected to be operating at high capacity with a target of reaching 50 to 60 purpose-built school buses per quarter by the end of the fiscal year 2025,” adds Atkinson.