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The E-Transit Type A school bus, which Ford showcased back in March, is now available for order from Collins Bus Corporation, one of the leading US school bus manufacturers.

The E-Transit is currently the leader of the US electric van market, with about 60% of last year’s EV van sales. But the E-Transit isn’t just a cargo van; you can also buy it as a cutaway chassis which can then be upfitted with various containers on the back, depending on what niche you want the vehicle to fill.

Collins is a bus manufacturer that Ford has worked with to fill that niche with a traditional yellow American school bus on Ford’s all-electric chassis.

The bus is a “Type A,” which is the smallest type of school bus, typically built on a cutaway van chassis – like that of the E-transit. “Type C” is the stereotypical purpose-built long, yellow bus that most often comes to mind when thinking of school buses.

The E-Transit school bus will be able to hold a dozen seated passengers or eight seated passengers and two wheelchairs in an alternate floor plan.

It maintains the 68 kWh capacity of the E-Transit van, which is good for about 100 miles of range after upfitting the vehicle through Collins. The plain cargo E-Transit gets 126 miles of range, according to Ford, but 100 should be more than enough for most school buses and their short daily routes.

Collins is not the only manufacturer who will use Ford’s school bus package, but Ford wanted to highlight Collins since the two had worked together on the original demo vehicle shown back in March.

Ford also shared some additional specs of its School Bus Prep Package with us:

Ford’s Type A School Bus Prep Package is offered on E-Transit T-350 low roof extended 178” single-rear-wheel cutaway and includes these features to adhere with school bus chassis compliance requirements:

  • Safety Glass (65B) 
  • Right Hand Door Delete (60X)
  • Dual AGM Batteries (63E) 
  • Separate Stop Turn Tail Lamp – LED Enabled (43Q)
  • Auxiliary Fuse Panel with High Spec Interface Connector (87E)
  • Dual-note Horn (85D)
  • Modified Vehicle Wiring System (53K)

Other specs unique to this offering include: 

  • Pro Power Onboard
  • Twin-I-Beam front suspension
  • Tilt Steering
  • TorqShift® five-speed automatic overdrive transmission
  • Front stabilizer bar with HD front and rear shock

Notably, the bus has Ford’s Pro Power Onboard, which is the company’s branding for its bidirectional charging feature. This enables some interesting use cases for school buses, which spend so much of each day parked.

We recently saw a Canadian town using Lion Electric school buses to keep warm during emergencies, so the E-Transit school bus could potentially do something similar (though its battery is 2-3x smaller than the LionC’s, which is a much larger and more expensive Type C bus). And its dual AGM batteries will help power auxiliary climate controls in cold or hot weather.

More practically, bidirectional charging can also be used for grid resiliency or to offset dirty energy in the grid during peak hours, which are interesting possible use cases for school districts (and sometimes, they can be used to make money, too, through energy arbitrage at different times of day).

Pricing is based on the cost of a Ford E-Transit cutaway plus additional upfit costs from the distributor. The cutaway itself starts at $49,575, which is about $9k more than the gas version. But that’s before various EV school bus incentives and the Clean School Bus program, which can make these incredibly cheap for districts.

This is a big difference from other electric school buses, which can cost three times as much as their gas counterparts.

The bus is available for order now, and you can contact your local Collins bus dealer for more information.

Electrek’s Take

We love seeing the electrification of government vehicles like this – buses, garbage trucks, mail delivery vehicles, etc.

Oftentimes, the duty cycle for these vehicles is perfect for electrification. They do short, predefined routes every day. They stop and start a lot. They drive through residential communities where noise and air pollution are even less desirable than everywhere else. And they need to be reliable. Electrification is a perfect solution.

For school buses, it’s even more important because young kids ride in them, and having better air quality is extra important to young lungs. Air pollution from vehicles is a major contributor to childhood asthma, so getting our kids away from dirty diesel buses is of paramount importance.

People seem to really love electric school buses, which is why they’ve been taking off around the US. In just the last six months, the number of committed electric school bus purchases in the US has almost doubled. And that number will probably go even higher after California’s new electric truck rule, which was implemented last week.

We’ll get a chance to look at Ford’s electric school bus this week at ACT Expo, the industry’s largest advanced truck expo, going on from May 1-4 in Anaheim.

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Quick Charge | hydrogen hype falls flat amid very public failures

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Quick Charge | hydrogen hype falls flat amid very public failures

On today’s hyped up hydrogen episode of Quick Charge, we look at some of the fuel’s recent failures and billion dollar bungles as the fuel cell crowd continues to lose the credibility race against a rapidly evolving battery electric market.

We’re taking a look at some of the recent hydrogen failures of 2025 – including nine-figure product cancellations in the US and Korea, a series of simultaneous bus failures in Poland, and European executives, experts, and economists calling for EU governments to ditch hydrogen and focus on the deployment of a more widespread electric trucking infrastructure.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

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Looking for an EV lease under $200 a month? Here’s what’s available in April

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Looking for an EV lease under 0 a month? Here's what's available in April

Believe it or not, you can lease an EV for under $200 a month. New deals on models like the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 are hard to pass up this month.

Electric vehicles have been all over the news lately, with the Trump administration threatening to end federal incentives and introducing new tariffs that are expected to lead to higher prices.

On the positive side, new EV models are arriving, giving buyers more options and driving prices down. Many automakers reported record US electric car sales in the first three months of 2024.

GM remained the number two seller of EVs behind Tesla after sales doubled in Q1 2025. With the new Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs rolling out, Chevy is now the fastest-growing EV brand in the US. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is off to its best sales start since launching, with over 11,600 models sold in the first quarter.

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With the 2025 models rolling out and about 15 new EVs arriving this year, many automakers are introducing steep discounts to move vehicles off the lot.

EVs-lease-$200-April
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 Limited (Source: Hyundai)

EVs for lease for under $200 a month in April

Although the decade-old Nissan LEAF remains one of the most affordable this April at just $149 per month, there are a few EVs under $200 right now that are worth taking a look at.

The new 2025 Hyundai IONIQ might be the best EV deal this month, with leases as low as $199. Hyundai is currently promoting a 24-month lease deal with $3,999 due at signing.

EVs-lease-$200-April
Hyundai’s new 2025 IONIQ 5 Limited with a Tesla NACS port (Source: Hyundai)

Hyundai upgraded the electric SUV with a bigger battery for more range (now up to 318 miles), a sleek new look inside and out, and it now comes with an NACS port so you can charge it at Tesla Superchargers.

The offer is for the IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range, which has a driving range of up to 245 miles. For just $229 a month, you can snag the SE RWD model, which has a range of up to 318 miles and a more powerful (225 horsepower) electric motor. It’s also a 24-month lease with $3,999 due at signing.

Hyundai-2025-IONIQ-5-interior
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 Limited interior (Source: Hyundai)

To sweeten the deal, Hyundai is offering a free ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 EV charger with the purchase or lease of any 2024 or 2025 IONIQ 5. If you already have one, you can opt for a $400 public charging credit.

After slashing lease prices this month, the 2025 Nissan Ariya is actually cheaper than the LEAF in some regions. In Southern California, the 2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD is listed at just $129 per month. The AWD model has a range of up to 272 miles.

EVs-lease-$200-April
2025 Nissan Ariya Platinum+ e-4ORCE (Source: Nissan)

The deal is for 36 months, with $4,409 due at signing. In April, Nissan cut Ariya lease prices to around $239 in most other parts of the country.

Kia has a few EVs available to lease for under $200 a month in April. The 2025 Kia Niro EV Wind is listed at just $129 for 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing. Kia’s crossover SUV has EPA-estimated range of 253 miles.

EVs-lease-$200-April
2024 Kia EV6 (Source: Kia)

The 2024 EV6 may be worth considering at just $179 for 24 months ($3,999 due at signing). In California, the EV6 Light Long Range RWD is only slightly more than the Niro Wind.

In most other parts of the country, you can still find the EV6 for under $200 a month. The Light Long Range RWD trim offers up to 310 miles of EPA-estimated range.

Lease Price Term
(months)
Amount Due at Signing Driving Range
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SE RWD Standard Range $199 24 $3,999 245 miles
2024 Kia EV6 Light Long Rang RWD $179 24 $3,999 310 miles
2024 Kia Niro EV Wind $129 24 $3,999 253 miles
2025 Nissan Ariya Evolve AWD $129 36 $4,409 272 miles
2025 Nissan LEAF S FWD $149 36 $2,629 149 miles
2024 Fiat 500 INSPI(RED) $199 24 $2,999 149 miles
EVs for lease for under $200 a month in April 2025

And don’t forget the 2024 Fiat 500e, which is now listed at just $199 for 24 months with $2,999 due at signing. The electric hatchback offers a range of up to 149 miles.

If you are looking to spend a little more, check out our list of EVs you can lease for under $300 a month.

Ready to snag the savings while they are still here? At under $200 a month, some of these EV lease deals are hard to pass up right now. Check out our links below to find deals in your area.

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The US’s first solar panels over canals pilot is now online [video]

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The US’s first solar panels over canals pilot is now online [video]

Project Nexus, the first solar panel canopies over irrigation canals in the US, is now online in California, and there are plans to expand the project to other areas.

Project Nexus is a $20 million pilot in central California’s Turlock Irrigation District launched in October 2022. The project team is exploring solar over canal design, deployment, and co-benefits using canal infrastructure and the electrical grid.

India already has solar panels over canals, but Project Nexus is the first of its kind in the US.

The Turlock Irrigation District was the first irrigation district formed in California in 1887. It provides irrigation water to 4,700 growers who farm around 150,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley.

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Project Nexus will explore whether the solar panels reduce water evaporation as a result of midday shade and wind mitigation, create improvements to water quality through reduced vegetative growth, reduce canal maintenance as a result of reduced vegetative growth, and, of course, generate renewable electricity.

The California Department of Water Resources, utility company Turlock Irrigation District, Marin County, California-based water and energy project developer Solar AquaGrid, and The University of California, Merced, are partnering on the pilot. Project Nexus originated from a 2021 research project led by UC Merced alumna and project scientist Brandi McKuin.

Solar panels were installed at two sites over both wide- and narrow-span sections of Turlock Irrigation District canals in Stanislaus County, in various orientations. The sections range from 20 feet wide to 100 feet wide. University of California, Merced has positioned research equipment at both sites to collect baseline data so the researchers can decide where solar will work and where it won’t.

In February 2023, Project Nexus announced it would also deploy long-term iron flow battery storage in the form of two ESS 75kW turnkey “Energy Warehouse” batteries.

You can learn more about Project Nexus here:

Read more: In a US first, California will pilot solar-panel canopies over canals


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