ADOMANI has partnered with the Gilroy, California Unified School District to convert a Blue Bird school bus to all-electric operation. The bus was unveiled at a ceremony this week by Mayor Don Gage and the repower project team.

The school district provided a 2007 50-passenger type D diesel bus, and ADOMANI replaced the engine with its patented electric conversion kit. The bus has a range of 40 miles, a charge time of four hours, and is equipped with solar panels.

Funds for the project came from a Health Trust grant to the nonprofit Breathe California of the Bay Area. “I have long imagined a world where clean, zero-emission vehicles would take children to school, and now that vision is a reality,” said Margo Sidener, President of Breathe California. “The addition of solar fueling makes this a ‘Zero Emissions Squared’ project – zero-emission vehicle times zero-emission fuel – for cleaner air for all.”

This is ADOMANI’s second Blue Bird bus conversion. The company has created a specialized conversion kit for the Blue Bird, which can be installed in a couple weeks. Ninety percent of the OEM parts are retained, including the transmission, compressor, radiator and alternator.

Edward Monfort, the founder of ADOMANI and designer of this system, said, “I am thrilled to be working with school buses. After years of working with sports cars and trucks, it is great to enter this market that takes an older diesel school bus and turns it into a safe cleaner school bus for our children and the environment.”

Source: ADOMANI