Development of an electric school bus

Objectives

The main goal of the project was to convert a combustion vehicle to the electric mode in order to obtain a first prototype that could validate applicable technical solutions for the development of a final product. More precisely, the project allowed the following:

• Performing an analysis and identify a vehicle architecture addressing specific needs
• Designing the battery-packs
• Integrating the components and developing an all-electric prototype and charging systems
• Real-world testing

The vehicle has been in service for a year and has demonstrated good operating skills in extreme winter conditions.

Results

The project confirmed the feasibility of an all-electric school bus. This bus runs daily since October 2014.

It also validated power and energy needs in extreme winter conditions in order to adequately scale the vehicles to be produced.

During the project, comments from drivers and students were also collected.

The vehicle is currently driven in North America to convince potential buyers. Many orders have already been made