Editor’s note: Readers have been engaging in spirited conversations online about a range of subjects covered in the River Reporter. The recent story “ECS looks ahead to electric buses, ponders new garage” sparked a debate on the paper’s Facebook page about the wisdom or folly of schools transitioning to a battery-powered fleet. The River Reporter appreciates the thoughtful commentary and range of opinions contributed by its readership. Join the conversation on Facebook or at www.riverreporter.com. 

Philip Lee: Well there’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard them plan. 

Melinda Anne: It’s a state mandate by 2035 all school buses must be electric so they really have no choice in the matter.

Cynthia Bloom: Big fan of this! Important for us to show kids we care about their future and the state of the planet we’ll leave them with. Agree with the other comments about EVs being ideal for short stops/loops etc.— that makes total sense!!

Alan Lilly: All schools will need to do this sooner than later. Nice to see ECS taking the bull by the horns!

Kim Anderson: This is great. I really love that school buses—old and archaic—are some of the first infrastructure we have getting an electric upgrade. Makes so much sense!

Rick Flagg: I think this is great. The claims of EVs failing winter are completely overblown. I have an EV and have had zero issues during winter. With a home charger it’s significantly more convenient than gas. This is good for kids as well.

Virginia West Palmer: There goes your taxes, up up up!!!

Rory Seyward: Actually EV buses have much lower maintenance costs, plus our kids won’t be breathing in diesel fumes on the commute to school.

Ed Norris: So glad to see this. Kids with developing respiratory systems won’t have to inhale those diesel fumes anymore. And the cold weather issue is entirely manageable. These buses aren’t doing 400 miles a day. The short loops with lots of stops are ideal for EVs. Which is why this is happening. So long as they keep them plugged in during idle hours (which they need to for recharging anyway), their batteries will stay warm, and they can preheat off the grid to stay warm for the kids. They’re built for this.

The bad press is nothing but unsubstantiated hysteria. Gas cars and trucks need block heaters when it gets super cold, and the regular recharging and use cycles of the EV buses take care of that utility by regular use, without the special planning. Gas cars fail to start more often than EVs do in the cold. Same as catching fire. We just hear about every last event with EVs because people are worried about change, and no one cares when a gas car sparks and burns (61 times more often per mile than EVs) or an old 12V battery can’t turn over the engine.

Angelo Agosto to Ed Norris: But when the power goes out what happens to EVs?

Ed Norris: They keep going, just like gas cars. Any fool would fully charge their EV before a heavy weather event, which you can do at home, unlike getting gas. Those with bi-directional charging EVs, like the Ford F-150 Lightning, could run their houses on theirs. You can drive an EV to someplace where there is power, and recharge them there. Just like you can take your fossil car to a gas station only where one has power. Your local gas station isn’t going to be able to pump gas if they don’t have power. So worst case an EV is in the same boat as a gas car. Generally they are in better shape and much more useful.

Christopher Frey: This development is most likely positive but I’d like to see school administrations addressing the bigger issues with the same updated thinking. For example, the school calendar continues to be an archaic relic of the agricultural era when kids were needed to work on farms in the summer. There’s no longer any excuse for the several-month gap in instruction that results in kids backsliding, having to “relearn,” even missing out on the nutrition that schools provide. School calendars are indefensible but the culture is so ironbound that it’s nearly impossible to modify schedules despite empirical evidence. So these E.V. buses will still molder in garages for at least four months a year. Justify that for me please.