The city of Beverly is excited to receive its first electric school bus from a startup company in Massachusetts. It will be it’s fourth overall, with the first three buses as products of the state-funded projects from 2016 to 2017.
The recent project, one of the possibly many more to come, is a product of the collaboration of Beverly City and Highland Electric Transportation, which is founded by Duncan McIntyre, who is a veteran in the renewable energy sector.
The city’s project is part of the long-term solution to the ongoing polluted air emission in Massachusetts, with the transportation sector contributing 45 percent of it. The aim is to fully convert all 22 of the city’s school buses into electrically powered vehicles.
The initial costs are high, about three times that the diesel-powered vehicles. However, both the company and the state have conducted many alternatives to curb the expenses, such as the cooperation with the National Grid in dispersing unused stored energy and salvaging of materials.
The pilot school bus serves as a huge milestone and the new standard for better economic strategies and technical approaches in the future.