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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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Prime Day-2 Green Deals: Greenworks electric mini-bike + tools, EGO equipment, Navee sale, Aventon e-bikes, and much more

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Prime Day-2 Green Deals: Greenworks electric mini-bike + tools, EGO equipment, Navee sale, Aventon e-bikes, and much more

It’s the second day of Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event, and we’ve got another jam-packed edition of Green Deals for you, led by a rare price cut on the Greenworks 80V STEALTH Electric Mini-Bike to $1,440. Right behind it is a more sizeable collection of EGO electric tools and equipment getting discounts than we usually see at once, with the brand’s EGO Z6 52-inch Cordless Electric Zero-Turn Riding Lawn Mower coming with six 12.0Ah batteries at $5,600. There’s also Navee’s increased Autumn EV Sale savings starting from $266, and so much more waiting for you below – plus, all the other eco-friendly discounts we couldn’t stuff in here are available within our Prime Day Green Deals hub. And don’t forget to check out yesterday’s edition with the first-day favorites.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Hop on Greenworks’ 80V STEALTH electric mini-bike with Bluetooth speakers and rare price cut to $1,440 for Prime Day

As part of its Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon is offering a rare price cut on the Greenworks 80V STEALTH Electric Mini Bike to $1,439.99 shipped. Normally sitting up at its full $1,800 price, discounts are pretty rare on this model, as opposed to the few but more frequent savings that hit its counterparts in the brand’s e-transportation series. We saw the price drop to its lowest to $1,349 in May, with the deal here coming in as the second-best rate that saves you $360 off the tag.

This is the most advanced of Greenworks’ e-transportation lineup, which all take advantage of the brand’s versatile and interchangeable batteries for power, letting you get more bang for your buck, especially when you have quite the arsenal of the brand’s tools. The Greenworks 80V STEALTH electric mini-bike is powered by the two included 8.0Ah batteries to carry you for up to 27 miles, only taking two hours to recharge thanks to the 8A dual-port charger. The stylish mini-bike frame houses a 1,000W brushless rear hub STEALTH motor (hence the name), which can top out at 20 MPH when in its Eco mode and up to 25 MPH when set to the Sport mode.

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Compared to the other e-bikes in the brand’s series, this model brings along a much larger list of additional features, like the front fork suspension, dual rear shock absorbers, 19-inch all-terrain tires, an integrated headlight and taillight with three settings, an IPX4 water-resistant build, a push-button start, 3-in-1 functionality (forward, neutral, reverse), integrated Bluetooth speakers, an LED screen, and more.

EGO riding lawn mower parked in garage with other tools hanging on wall

Prime Day drops 52-inch EGO Z6 cordless zero-turn riding mower with 6x 12.0Ah batteries to $5,600, more

As part of its ongoing Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon is offering up to 28% discounts on a collection of EGO Power+ lawn care equipment. One notable price cut during this event is on the newest EGO Z6 52-inch Cordless Electric Zero-Turn Riding Lawn Mower with six 12.0Ah batteries for $5,599.99 shipped. Normally going for $6,999 in full, the few discounts we’ve seen hit it over the year have taken the costs down as low as $5,499, which we last saw at the top of April. The deal here provides a 20% markdown off the going rate, slashing $1,399 off the tag for the third-lowest price we have tracked. You can also find a large number of other tools seeing discounts in the brand’s official storefront here, with the best of them collected together below.

If you want to learn more about this riding mower, as well as browse the other EGO tool discounts, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

man doing wheelie on navee st3 pro electric scooter

Navee’s Autumn Sale increases EV savings for Prime Day, with its flagship ST3 Pro dropping to $710, more

Navee’s ongoing Autumn EV Sale has increased savings on e-scooters for the week of Prime Day, complete with bonus savings and some free gear too. A notable price cut is coming to the brand’s flagship ST3 Pro Smart Electric Scooter for $709.99 shippedafter using the code AFF50 at checkout for an additional $50 off the price, with the first 30 orders also getting a free chain lock (a $49 value). This model released back in March and carries a $950 MSRP these days, which we’ve mostly seen discounted to $760 during most sales, though there have been falls as low as $685 and $660 in the past. While this event continues, you can score $240 off the going rate for the third-lowest price we have tracked, which also beats out its Amazon pricing by $50.

If you want to learn more about this scooter, either read our in-depth hands-on review or check out our original coverage of this and the other EV deals here.

woman riding Aventon Aventure 2 e-bike down beach
woman mowing lawn with greenworks 40V 21-inch cordless lawn mower
govee outdoor garden lights lighting up flower beds with color
lectric one e-bike
ecoflow early prime day power station sale
anker solix early prime day power station sale

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Nissan reveals new lower-priced LEAF B5 in Japan

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Nissan reveals new lower-priced LEAF B5 in Japan

The new Nissan LEAF is among the most affordable electric vehicles in the US, with a starting price under $30,000. Overseas, it’s a different story. To keep pace with BYD, Hyundai, and others, Nissan revealed a new, lower-priced LEAF B5 model in Japan.

Meet the new Nissan LEAF B7, next up is the B5

We got our first look at the third-gen LEAF in June. Although Nissan’s iconic electric hatch was once a top-selling electric vehicle, it was long overdue for an update.

The new LEAF is back and better than ever, boasting a significantly longer driving range, faster charging, and a new crossover SUV-like design.

Even with the improvements, Nissan claims the 2026 LEAF has “the lowest starting MSRP for any new EV currently on sale in the US” at just $29,990. That’s even cheaper than the first model, which arrived in 2011 for $32,780.

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Overseas, including in its home market of Japan, it won’t be so easy. Nissan faces stiff competition from lower-cost electric vehicles from BYD, Hyundai, Kia, and several other brands.

Nissan announced plans to launch a new, lower-priced “LEAF B5” model on Wednesday, aiming to fend off the wave of new competition entering the Japanese market.

Nissan-lower-priced-LEAF-B5
Nissan unveils the new LEAF B7, plans for lower-priced B5 model (Source: Nissan)

Nissan said it plans to launch the lower-priced LEAF B5 in February 2026. It will feature a smaller 55 kWh battery and “is expected to be priced more affordably for a wider range of customers,” the company said.

In the meantime, Nissan will open orders for the LEAF B7 in Japan on October 17, with deliveries scheduled to begin in January 2026.

Nissan-lower-priced-LEAF-B5
New Nissan LEAF B7 models (Source: Nissan)

Powered by a 78 kWh battery, the B7 variant delivers a WLTC driving range of up to 702 km (436 miles). Using a 150 kW fast charger, Nissan said it can also recharge from 10% to 80% in 35 minutes.

The third-gen LEAF features a new energy management system and battery conditioning feature to optimize energy consumption.

Nissan-lower-priced-LEAF-B5-interior
The new Nissan LEAF B7 interior (Source: Nissan)

Inside, the new Nissan LEAF B7 looks about the same as the other model, with a dual 12.3″ display at the center.

Nissan offers two grades, “X” and “G.” The LEAF B7 X starts at 5,188,700 yen ($34,000) while the G model is priced from 5,999,400 yen ($39,300).

Both the B7 and B5 will receive an AUTECH upgrade. The LEAF B7 AUTECH starts at 6,513,100 yen ($42,600), while prices for the B5 version have yet to be announced.

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Nvidia CEO says AI needs way more energy. Cramer says this is the power stock to own

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Nvidia CEO says AI needs way more energy. Cramer says this is the power stock to own

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