School districts embrace electric buses as the 200th Proterra-powered EV bus arrives in Indiana
Electric school buses are rolling out across the United States as school districts look to keep their students and the communities they work in safe and free of harmful emissions. In a significant milestone, Thomas Built Buses announced Wednesday that it has delivered 200 Proterra-powered electric school buses, with the latest going to Monroe County, Indiana.
What makes Proterra-powered electric school buses special
Thomas Built Buses, a leading school bus manufacturer with over 100 years of experience, teamed up with Proterra, a commercial EV tech manufacturer, to introduce the next generation of electric school buses.
Each Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus comes equipped with 226 kWh of energy through a Proterra-powered battery system and drivetrain. The Proterra H Series battery pack is designed for commercial use with a liquid cooling system and enhanced software to ensure maximum charging and performance efficiency.
The Proterra-powered electric buses can seat up to 81 while delivering up to 138 miles in range. With over-the-air software updates and vehicle-to-grid charging capabilities, these EV buses are lightyears ahead of the traditional yellow buses we are used to.
For example, in August, Electrek reported two Jouley electric buses gave seven MWh back to the grid. Combined with the three MWh previously generated, it was enough to power around 600 homes for a day.
More recently, in September, Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner electric buses crossed 500,000 miles driven in Virginia, avoiding 447.7 short tons of greenhouse gases, according to the AFLEET tool.
Today, Thomas Built Buses achieved another major milestone by delivering its 200th Jouley electric school bus loaded with Proterra technology. Indiana’s Monroe County Public School District is celebrating as it helped play a role in getting there.
Indiana welcomes new zero-emission EV buses
The first county in Indiana state to receive a Jouley electric bus in the fall of 2022, Monroe County helped Thomas Built Buses achieve the 200-bus milestone as it received its sixth delivery of 13 zero-emission buses.
The superintendent for Monroe County Community School Corp., Dr. Jeff Hauswald, explains the benefits of school districts going electric, stating:
Beyond the long-term cost savings benefits, converting our fleet also helps us meet safety and sustainability goals set forth by school administration, reducing CO2 emissions by 27 tons and saving 1,080 gallons of diesel per bus in our fleet. With every additional bus we convert, we’re only adding to those numbers.
The school district has committed to going all-electric by 2028, including around 85 primary bus routes.
Meanwhile, Chris Baily, president of Proterra Powered & Energy, congratulated Monroe County while speaking about the company’s mission to continue rolling out zero-emissions buses to protect communities across the US, saying:
Schools across America are driving towards a clean transportation future. Proterra congratulates Monroe County schools for their leadership in the growing movement of school districts that are embracing zero-emission, all-electric school buses. Now, with 200 Proterra Powered electric school buses on the road, we look forward to helping clean the air for more schoolkids and communities throughout the country.
Electrek’s Take
Each year 450,000 school buses travel over 4.3 billion miles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Even though 200 is only a fraction of the number of school buses in the United States, it’s a start.
As of August 2022, US school districts have committed to 12,720 electric school buses, according to the latest information from the non-profit research organization, the World Resources Institute (WRI).
New incentives such as the EPA Clean School Bus Program, which provides $5 billion in EV school bus funding over the next five years, should help accelerate the adoption pace in the coming years. In fact, after unprecedented initial demand during the first round, the EPA nearly doubled funding to $965 million from $500 million.
School districts are welcoming the change at this point. Now it will come down to how quickly states and school district leaders can receive funding to implement electric school buses. Proterra is committed to leading the transition with its technology paving the way for safe, zero-emission electric school buses.
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A view of offshore oil and gas platform Esther in the Pacific Ocean on January 5, 2025 in Seal Beach, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Oil prices jumped on Friday as the U.S. Treasury Department announced sweeping sanctions against Russia’s oil industry.
Brent gained $1.92, or 2.5%, to $78.84 per barrel by 11:12 a.m. ET, while U.S. crude oil advanced $1.89, or 2.56%, to $75.81 per barrel. Brent broke $80 per barrel for the first time since October earlier in day, hitting a session high of $80.75.
The sanctions target Russian oil companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas and their subsidiaries, more than 180 tankers, and more than a dozen Russian energy officials and executives. The sanctioned executives include Gazprom Neft CEO Aleksandr Valeryevich Dyukov.
The sanctioned vessels are mostly oil tankers that are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that has dodged existing sanctions on the country’s energy exports, according to the Treasury Department.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
Brent crude futures, 1 year
“With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports,” Yellen said.
The perception in the oil market is Indian and Chinese refiners that have imported Russian oil will have to scramble for barrels from the Middle East, said Bob Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities, in a note to clients Friday.
The Biden administration has sought to ratchet up pressure on Russia and dispense aid to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
“The Biden administration opted for more robust energy sanctions, which caught the oil market especially complacent about sanctions risks,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group.
“Therefore, we expect today’s material risk premium in Brent to stick pending signals from the Trump team as to whether they will continue these sanctions,” McNally said.
Hydrostor’s GEM A-CAES has received a conditional loan guarantee of up to $1.76 billion from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to build the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center, a cutting-edge compressed air energy storage (CAES) system, in Eastern Kern County, California.
If everything goes as planned, Willow Rock will bring 500 megawatts (MW) and 4,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of long-duration energy storage (LDES) to the southern California power grid.
This system will lower energy costs, improve grid reliability during peak demand, and expand the rollout of renewable energy into the grid. Here’s how it works and why it’s unique.
How compressed air energy storage works
CAES technology is all about storing energy for later use, especially when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Here’s how it works:
- Storing energy: The system takes surplus energy (often from renewable sources like solar or wind) and uses it to compress air, which is stored in underground caverns.
- Releasing energy: When the grid needs power, the compressed air is released, passing through a turbine to generate electricity. Willow Rock will be able to dispatch stored energy at full power for over eight-hour periods.
Unlike conventional batteries, CAES can scale up based on the size of the storage cavern and doesn’t rely on scarce critical materials. It’s durable, too –systems like Willow Rock are designed to last over 50 years.
Why advanced CAES is different
Traditional CAES systems face two big challenges: wasted heat and inconsistent power output. Willow Rock’s advanced compressed air energy storage system (A-CAES) technology solves these problems:
- Thermal energy capture: Conventional CAES loses around 50% of energy during the air compression process. Willow Rock pairs a proprietary thermal storage system with this process, so it captures, stores, and reuses heat from the compression cycle.
- Constant Pressure: Traditional systems lose efficiency as underground air pressure drops. Willow Rock maintains consistent pressure by using water from an above-ground reservoir. As a bonus, the facility will be a net producer of fresh water, as water condensed during the compression process will be captured and reused.
This innovative design means A-CAES systems can be installed in a greater variety of underground conditions – an estimated 80% of US geology could support similar systems, opening the door for wide deployment.
Willow Rock will create up to 700 construction jobs at its peak, and 40 full-time operations roles will follow. These positions require skills similar to those used in the oil and gas industry, making it a natural fit for Kern County, a region with roots in fossil fuel production.
GEM A-CAES is a subsidiary of Hydrostor USA Holdings, a subsidiary of Hydrostor of Canada.
Read more: The world’s highest solar + storage project is online in Tibet
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Chinese EV automaker Build Your Dreams (BYD) has unveiled its ATTO 2 compact SUV to the European public. The launch, which took place at the Brussels Motor Show, kicks off BYD’s next EV entry into European and UK markets. The BYD ATTO 2 is smaller and more affordable than its SUV siblings, with a decent range to boot, perfect for European roads.
The ATTO 2 is a rebranded version of the Chinese EV automaker BYD’s Yuan Up – an ultra-affordable compact SUV that debuted in China in February 2024. BYD may not be bringing “Yuan” branded EVs over to new markets in Europe, but that lineup continues to grow each month.
BYD currently sells four all-electric models in the UK and seven in Europe, including the ATTO 3 SUV. Today, BYD debuted a rebranded version of the Yuan Up called the ATTO 2, which will go on sale to customers in the UK and Europe next month.
BYD unveils ATTO 2 in Brussels, sales begin in February
The Brussels Motor Show recently kicked off as the first major automotive expo in Europe in 2025, and BYD showed up with a new affordable BEV option to complement the ATTO 3. Per BYD executive vice president Stella Li:
We’re excited to start 2025 with another important model for our plans in Europe. The B-segment SUV class is incredibly popular here, and with the ATTO 2, we have an agile and versatile offering that will appeal to that large potential customer base. It takes all of BYD’s strengths in batteries, electric motors and Cell-to-Body construction and combines them in a compact package that brings new intelligent technologies to the urban SUV class.
The ATTO 2 is 4,310mm long, 1,830mm wide, and 1,675mm tall—145mm shorter and 45mm slimmer than its ATTO 3 sibling. Despite its compact size, the ATTO 2 offers up to 1,430 liters of cargo capacity with its rear seat down.
The ATTO 2 also sits atop BYD’s e-Platform 3.0, the first of the brand’s compact SUVs to utilize Cell-to-Body (CTB) construction, which integrates the battery completely into the vehicle chassis—this design results in optimized space and overall increased vehicle rigidity.
Speaking of batteries, the EU and UK customers who opt for an ATTO 2 can experience BYD’s proprietary Blade Batteries, which integrates LFP cells directly instead of fitting them into multiple modules. BYD says customers can choose between two battery sizes in their ATTO 2 order. At launch, a standard range edition will utilize a 45.1 kWh Blade Battery, delivering a (WLTP) 312 km (194 miles) range.
However, BYD said a larger-battery version of the ATTO 2 will arrive in the coming months and offer drivers greater range. The automaker is not yet sharing individual pricing for the ATTO 2 in the UK or Europe. Still, a representative for the company said the compact SUV is expected to land between the BYD Dolphin and ATTO 3 BEVs, which in the UK cost 26,140 GBP ($32,157) and 37,140 GBP ($45,689) respectively.
ATTO 2 sales are expected to begin in February.
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