For the fourth year in a row, the Transportation Committee brought our electric school bus campaign to school district decision makers at the annual NJ School Boards Association Workshop in Atlantic City. This year we were able to partner with Sustainable New Jersey Senior Program Manager Nancy Quirk to host a well-attended panel discussion on electric school buses.
Speakers included Jackson School District Energy Education Specialist John Blair, NJ Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Scientist Gabrielle Baet, Maryland Prince Georges County Board of Education member Pamela Boozer-Strother, and myself. The 2024-2025 edition of our “NJ Electric School Bus Buyers’ Guide” was distributed at the conference and is available for free on our website.
John Blair successfully applied for $5.4 million in state and federal grant money to purchase 19 electric school buses, four DC fast-charging stations (which can provide an 80% battery charge in as little as 20 minutes), and some additional dual port Level 2 stations (which are slower, more standard EV charging stations). By leveraging these grant funds, the net cost to the district was $128,699 per bus, a savings of $51,000 per bus compared with purchasing a new diesel-powered bus.
Pamela Boozer-Strother’s presentation focused on how individual school board members can advocate for electric school buses and other sustainability programs. The Climate Change Action Plan adopted by Prince Georges County Public Schools includes eight overarching goals encompassing 58 action items, including electrifying their entire bus fleet by 2040.
If you are involved with your district’s school board or know someone who is, begin planning now to apply for the next round of NJ Electric School Bus Grant Program funding, to be announced in January or February 2025. Our Chapter’s Electric School Bus Campaign webpage is an excellent reference tool for learning how to efficiently transition to electric school buses.
EV Sales
Electric passenger cars continued to sell briskly, recording total sales of 363,000 in the second quarter of 2024, with total first half sales of 704,000. Used electric vehicle sales also rose 4.3% in Q3 2024.
Contradicting the media hype, 79% of new EVs sold in the second quarter were battery electric, far outpacing electric hybrid sales. Significantly, EVs represented 9.9% of the total light duty vehicle market in Q2.
Toyota doubled their sales of light-duty EVs to almost 23,000 in the second quarter. The automaker also announced a $1.4 billion investment to produce “3-row” SUV lithium-ion batteries at its Princeton, Indiana, facility starting in 2026, contradicting extensive media reports that Toyota was exiting the electric battery marketplace. The 3-row system enables better configuration for space efficiency and vehicle balance.
I-95 Electrification
New Jersey was awarded a $250 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate a four-state effort to install 24 fast-charging stations with 450 ports for trucks along the Interstate 95 corridor from Connecticut to Maryland. Nine of the sites will be in New Jersey. These charging ports will be critical infrastructure to support NJ’s Advanced Clean Truck rule, which is intended to increase the number of electric freight trucks on our nation’s highways.
Statewide Charging Stations
The NJ Board of Public Utilities finally adopted a set of basic requirements under which the state’s four public utilities will propose programs to finance charging stations for medium and heavy duty electric vehicles across the state. The board’s proposed standards will allow the utilities to include the cost of electric power upgrades to fleet depots and other facilities in its rate base, spreading these “make ready” costs among all ratepayers. This will help reduce the cost of electrifying trucks, buses, delivery vans, and utility vehicles, especially in overburdened communities. The utilities have until February to file their proposed rate structures, and the board is expected to approve the proposals within three months after that.
Chapter Electrification Committee Website: https://shorturl.at/3hI8p
Prince Georges County Climate Plan: https://shorturl.at/VAUYk