First Student, a major provider of student transportation, has ordered 260 all-electric LionC school buses from the Lion Electric Company (NYSE: LEV). This is the largest single order of school buses in Lion’s history, and is expected to make First Student the largest operator of zero-emission school buses in North America.

The new Lion Electric buses will be used by Transco, a First Student subsidiary that operates in Quebec. Deliveries will begin in the second half of 2021, and the order is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

First Student already operates a number of Lion electric school buses. As part of the purchase, the LionEnergy team will work with First Student to select and install the necessary charging infrastructure.

Lion Electric manufactures electric Class 5 to Class 8 commercial trucks, as well as electric buses and minibuses for the school, paratransit and mass transit segments. The company has delivered over 390 all-electric heavy-duty vehicles in North America. All of Lion’s vehicles are purpose-built for electric propulsion, and are manufactured at Lion’s North American facility, which has a current capacity to produce 2,500 electric trucks per year.

“First Student’s leadership demonstrates that zero-emission technology is here to meet the needs of the market at scale, as is our production capacity,” said Marc Bedard, CEO and founder of Lion. “We are not talking about pilot programs, but rather entire bus fleets going electric, with vehicles that meet the daily requirements of the industry’s largest operators.”

“The electrification of school buses has already started and is poised to accelerate rapidly,” said First Student President Paul Osland. “This work with Lion Electric is an important step to position First Student as North America’s leading owner and operator of electric school buses.”

Source: Lion Electric