Even though electric vehicles currently don’t have enough driving range to compete against gasoline-powered cars in the consumer market, EV technology still can serve a purpose in commercial vehicles.
IC Buses unveiled its new zero-emissions school bus Tuesday at the 2017 National Association for Pupil Transportation Annual Conference and Trade Show. The chargE is an all-electric bus, jointly developed with Volkswagen Trucks & Bus that IC Bus hopes to launch in 2019.
The electric powertrain reportedly was specifically tailored for the demands of buses, and develops 349 horsepower. With a range of 120 miles, the chargE might not be great for road trips, but considering it’s a school bus and will probably never need to travel farther than that, it’s range isn’t a problem.
“We’re proud to introduce our electric powertrain concept vehicle engineered to meet the demands of the 21st century school bus industry,” IC Bus vice president Trish Reed said in a statement. “As battery technology evolves, we continue to explore a variety of electric technologies to meet our customers’ needs in the final design of the CE Series electric-powered school bus.”
Although many automakers are concerned with what the EVs of tomorrow will look like, the chargE is a great reminder that current-generation electric powertrains are far from useless.
Thumbnail photo via IC Bus/PR Newswire
