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Kenston readies Ohio's first hybrid school bus
Kenston readies Ohio's first hybrid school bus
By SUE HOFFMAN
Everything looked white on Monday as snow continued to blanket the Chagrin Valley. However, at the Auburn Fire Station, the Kenston School District was taking a major step to going green.
Inside the station was the district's newest school bus. While it looks like a conventional school bus inside and out, Bus No. 34 is a plug-in hybrid model which is expected to improve fuel economy by up to 65 percent.
The only feature that looks different on the 77-passenger vehicle is a cord that extends from a compartment near its front door to an electrical outlet at the fire station. It also has the word "hybrid" on it.
"It's the first one sold in the state of Ohio," said Virgil Stutler, a salesman with Power City International, of Akron, a distributor for Integrated Coach school buses.
"It's another major step for us to bring green initiatives to our campus, community and state," Kenston Superintendent Robert A. Lee said. He praised transportation supervisor Eva Christie for applying for and receiving a federal grant. "She did a great job getting the grant money to make this happen," he said.
The total cost for the hybrid bus was $191,500. The district, which received a federal grant of $109,500, paid $82,100, which is the approximate cost of a regular school bus, according to school officials. In addition, officials are looking to recoup the expenditure through savings on fuel consumption.
Enova, the manufacturer of the hybrid portion of the bus, conducted a training program at the fire station for safety forces and school bus mechanics. Present were several representatives of the Ohio Highway Patrol and local police and fire departments.
"There are two huge lithium-ion split battery packs under the bus," Mr. Stutler said, which generate a combined 370 volts of electricity. "That sustains the hybrid part so it can operate. Because of the batteries and high voltage, all fire departments and emergency response people as well as tow-truck people need to understand the cables under the bus and the whole hybrid portion. Other than that, this is a normal school bus," he said.
Mr. Stutler said the bus's two batteries will need to be charged after morning routes and overnight. In addition, he said, every time it stops and restarts, it charges. "It's not for long routes," he said.
Mrs. Christie said, after studying the routes that make frequent stops, the district decided that the bus would transport students in Bainbridge. Once the bus passes inspection by the Ohio Highway Patrol, it will serve the Spring Valley, Timber Trail and Peppermill subdivisions and portions of Laurel Springs.
Mr. Stutler posted other facts about the hybrid in the bus windows for the workshop. In addition to improved fuel economy, the bus should achieve emission reductions of up to 48 percent in particulate matter, 39 percent in carbon dioxide and 14 percent in nitrogen-oxygen.
In addition to purchasing the hybrid, the district has retrofitted most of its 47 school buses with diesel oxidation catalysts and closed crankcase ventilation systems, Mrs. Christie said. Newer vehicles were purchased with emission controls already in place. The district upgraded the equipment with the aid of a $79,730 clean-diesel school bus fund retrofit program grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
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