Efficient Drivetrains, Inc. (EDI) has been selected as the electric drivetrain provider for a $4.4-million DOE program that aims to accelerate the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles.

School buses are the largest mass transit segment in the country, carrying twice the number of passengers as the entire US transit and rail segments.

As part of the program, EDI will supply its EDI PowerDrive 7000ev electric drivetrain and its EDI Power2E exportable power solution to a leading school bus OEM to develop a fleet of electric buses with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) capabilities.

The bus offers over 100 miles of range, delivers power performance equivalent to its traditional diesel counterpart, and requires no change to driver behavior to operate. Fleet managers will have access to real-time fleet tracking and vehicle diagnostics featuring location, state of charge and other information, using EDI’s PowerTracker telematics system.

EDI has already collaborated with several OEMs to electrify buses. In the US, the EDI PowerDrive 7000ev has been integrated into both Type C and D school bus formats.

“We are continuing to see an influx of requests from the industry related to the electrification of school buses in the US,” said EDI CEO Joerg Ferchau. “Having successfully deployed our system in leading Type C and D OEM platforms, EDI is well positioned with a portfolio that helps bus manufacturers deploy electrified vehicle solutions into their product offerings rapidly.”

Source: Efficient Drivetrains