HERSCHER — In the midst of Lion Electric laying off more than half its workforce and suspending operations at its Joliet plant, questions remain of how the electric vehicle company’s future will affect local school districts which use their buses.
Herscher Community Unit School District 2 purchased 25 LionC electric buses manufactured at the Joliet plant after receiving a nearly $10 million federal grant in 2022 as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program.
Herscher has been leading the way regionally in the push for clean energy, with more electric school buses on the road than anywhere else in the state of Illinois.
The EPA’s funds were also used to install charging infrastructure at both the Limestone bus garage and a new bus garage constructed in Herscher, with 16 charging stations at each location.
Half of Herscher’s fleet now consists of electric buses, and half are diesel powered.
Additionally, Pembroke Community Consolidated School District 259 was slated to receive $700,000 from the EPA in 2022 to purchase two electric school buses and charging infrastructure.
Lion Electric was unable to fulfill Pembroke’s order for two buses, so the Pembroke district now has one LionC electric vehicle as its only school bus, along with two charging stations.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
The Canada-based manufacturer of electric buses and trucks faces an uncertain future.
After scaling back for the past year, the company announced last Sunday that 400 workers were being laid off, leaving 300 employed across the company.
Operations at the Joliet manufacturing plant were also suspended as part of the workforce reduction.
Lion has said it is pursuing options, including a possible sale of the business, to meet financial obligations coming due Dec. 16.
A call placed to a Lion Electric media contact regarding the effect on local schools was not immediately returned.
HERSCHER
Herscher Superintendent Rich Decman said the status of the Joliet manufacturing plant should not affect the district because its buses were already built and are running daily routes.
However, the reduction of staff across the company might change how their buses are serviced.
The Lion Electric representative that worked directly with Herscher schools was one of the 400 employees to get laid off.
The representative called Decman earlier this week to tell him the news.
After being in touch with other Lion Electric personnel, Decman said he was assured the company would continue to provide services.
“We’ve had a couple issues with timeliness of getting parts and things like that,” he noted. “They said they’ll get right on it and hopefully take care of us with whatever needs we have.”
Instead of working with Lion Electric representatives from the Midwest, it seems that going forward, the district will be working with representatives from other areas.
For instance, one of the representatives Decman spoke with this week was from Seattle.
“We’ve already had previous concerns, and so we’re hoping that doesn’t get worse,” Decman said. “That was part of the conversation I had with the representatives from Lion this week. How can we expedite this? And how can we make sure that when we need maintenance on these buses, and/or parts, that we can get it in a timely fashion?”
PEMBROKE
Pembroke Superintendent Nicole Terrell-Smith said the district has been using its electric bus for almost a year.
“It actually runs nicely. It’s very quiet, so there are no complaints on that end,” she said.
However, the uncertainty regarding the future of Lion Electric does raise some concerns for Terrell-Smith.
“I’m nervous, because we are the small fry,” she said. “We only have the one bus.”
Pembroke uses its electric bus to transport about seven or eight out-of-district special education students.
As part of the conditions of the EPA grant, the district had to scrap its used diesel bus.
The new LionC electric bus is the only transportation the district has aside from a student activity bus.
All Terrell-Smith has been told thus far is that, like Herscher, Pembroke’s contact person within the company has shifted due to the layoffs.
“When we’ve called for service, we’ve gotten a response,” she said. “So we really haven’t, on our end, seen much of a change or a shift of any sort.”
Terrell-Smith said she intends on reapplying for the EPA grant to obtain another electric school bus since Lion Electric was unable to provide two buses.
The district would likely look into using another company to acquire its second bus.
BUS MAINTENANCE?
Herscher school district employs its own mechanics that are able to do some repairs on the electric buses.
They coordinate with Lion Electric to determine if one of the company’s mechanics or any extra parts are needed.
The company has indicated it would be providing software that will enable the district’s mechanics to run their own diagnostics.
So, the district’s mechanics can figure out what the issue is, request any necessary parts to be shipped over from Lion Electric and then conduct the repair themselves if possible.
The batteries and various parts on the buses came with eight-year warranties.
The eight-year period aligned with the timeframe the district normally keeps its buses before replacing them, around 10 years.
Savings on fuel are estimated to be at least $6,000 per bus, per year. If the district uses them for eight years, the savings will add up to around $1.2 million.
The cost of the buses and chargers were completely covered by the federal EPA grant.
“Even if we get one year out of these buses, it’s going to save us money in fuel,” he said.
Herscher school district runs 29 regular routes each day.
With 25 electric buses and 24 diesel buses in Herscher’s fleet, spare buses are available if mechanical issues arise with either type of vehicle.
“It’s too early to know the ramifications, but we’re hopeful that’s the case, that we will not see a reduction in services and needs, and that’s what we’re being told,” Decman said. “We’ll see in the next couple months.”
