Kentucky Schools Adding More Electric Buses Thanks to EPA Grants

Blue Bird Corp., one of the largest and oldest makers of school buses, has fully embraced electric vehicles and will soon provide 13 electric buses to a Kentucky school district.

Bowling Green Independent School District said the purchase of the vehicles was made possible by a $5.1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law approved by Congress last year, according to a press release from Blue Bird.

Last year, the EPA awarded nearly $1 billion in funding to school districts in all 50 U.S. states, to provide more than 2,400 clean school buses. This year, the agency plans to offer an additional $1 billion for low- and zero-emission school buses.

Blue Bird, which said it is the only U.S.-owned school bus maker in the country, was founded in 1927. It has produced more than 20,000 propane, natural gas and electric-powered buses in recent years.

The Bowling Green buses include 10 that can carry up to 72 students and three that can carry 84 passengers. Both have a range of 120 miles on a single charge, the company said.