Pioneer Power Solutions Inc. has received an order from one of the largest public school districts in the United States for 25 e-Boost Mobile units to power the school district’s electric school bus (ESB) fleet. The order, valued at $7.1 million, is likely to grow to more than $8.0 million with the expected addition of planned contingency measures.
The company plans to deliver the systems throughout the first quarter of 2025. These systems will support the school district’s efforts to meet local environmental requirements by phasing out traditional fuel sources at the school bus depot and expediting the transition to a fully ESB fleet.
The initial deployment will serve approximately 200 EV buses, advancing the district’s goal of electrifying its fleet of more than 1,000 ESBs. As one of the largest U.S. school districts, it currently operates a fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles, including buses, trucks, cars and vans.
“This order marks an important and exciting milestone for our eMobility business,” says Geo Murickan, head of Pioneer eMobility. “Electrifying school transportation is central to the clean energy transition in local communities, and Pioneer’s mobile e-Boost solution has been proven again to be an integral piece of this energy transition.
“Knowing that this off-grid solution is easily deployable, can be scaled up or down and replicated throughout the country, will facilitate collaboration between ESB manufacturers and school districts across the nation, ultimately enhancing and expanding the U.S. Federal Infrastructure School Bus program,” adds Murickan.” Successfully deploying over 200 electric school buses amidst these concurrent transitions required a forward-thinking school district leadership team with the vision, innovative spirit and execution expertise to achieve their ambitious goal of a fully electric fleet by 2030.”
e-Boost secured this order in collaboration with its channel partner, Eneridge Inc., following a competitive bidding process involving multiple vendors and various charging technologies. Bid evaluation considered factors such as cost, delivery time and ability to meet rigorous design and performance standards for sustainability, noise reduction, mobility, and resilience, as well as local support.
The award consists of 25 e-Boost Mobile units, each featuring eight Level 2 AC chargers, capable of delivering 19.2 kW of power to charge electric school buses overnight. Mounted on open trailers for seamless deployment, these units will provide a total of 1.2 MWh of energy per night, collectively delivering 30.7 MWh of energy to a fleet of 200 buses nightly.
The receipt of this order, combined with the current backlog for first quarter 2025, positions the Pioneer eMobility business unit for significant growth in 2025, exceeding its expected 2024 performance. To support this expansion, the business unit will form strategic, geographically aligned partnerships with national manufacturing firms, thereby increasing production capacity and enabling Pioneer to meet demand while avoiding costly facility expansions and potential production delays or disruptions.