Electrifying school bus fleets : The importance of adapting buildings and infrastructure
In this series of articles, we demystify the key steps of converting your school bus fleet to electric power thanks to the Transporteur+ guide. This guide aims to provide easy and direct access to resources to clarify the steps, issues, conditions and facilitating measures for a successful transition to electrification.
You have now completed the first crucial steps of your school bus fleet electrification plan. Did you know that it is just as important to plan the adaptation of your buildings and infrastructures right from the start of your project? Once your pilot project has been set in motion and your integration is off to a good start, it is time to check if your current facilities can accommodate electric school buses. Find out more in this blog article.
If your current facilities do not allow you to effectively and safely charge your vehicle fleet, it is time to remedy this. While you may not have to start from scratch, modifications to the building or the site may be required to charge and maintain electric buses. Unless you have the appropriate resources internally, it is recommended that you use an external specialized service such as those described in section 4.2 of the Transporteur+ guide. They will validate plans and specifications, find qualified resources to proceed with the changes and monitor electrical equipment installation and infrastructure rebuilding work.
IMPORTANT
In addition to the charging stations, don’t forget to check electrical redundancy and resiliency features to ensure continued operations in the event of a power failure.
Does adapting facilities involve major work?
Adaptations to the building and site will vary significantly for each operator, as a number of variables must be considered:
- The conditions of the existing building
- The capacity of the power supply
- The location where the maintenance will be done (on-site or off-site)
- The available space
- The distance between the facilities and the nearest hydro pole
- Etc.
Here are the general rules that apply for fleets of different vehicle sizes. It should be noted that in most cases, a new power supply may be required for as few as three new buses, given that building electrical panels generally have little spare amperage.
This project was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Quebec, the Trottier Family Foundation, the Greater Montreal Climate Fund and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ. Propulsion Québec would also like to thank The Transition Accelerator and the WSP Canada team for their critical contributions, as well as all the experts involved in the development of this guide.
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