Q&A
Discussion on electric bus grants and vendor applications
1:37:24
·
155 sec
Council Member Brewer inquires about the process of obtaining electric buses through grants. James Sarkis explains the DOE's efforts to encourage vendors to apply for federal and state grants for electric buses. The discussion covers the current status of applications, awards, and challenges faced by vendors in transitioning to electric buses.
- 51 applications have been submitted under 4 separate grant rounds, with 15 awarded so far
- The system has applied for 1,400 buses, with 416 awarded thus far
- DOE holds workshops to educate vendors about grant opportunities and electrification
- Some vendors are hesitant due to infrastructure concerns and fear of the unknown
- About a dozen vendors out of 50 have applied, indicating a need for more engagement
Gale A. Brewer
1:37:24
Okay.
1:37:25
I know maybe you talked about this, but who is responsible for electrification grants and and how are you going to get these buses to be electric?
1:37:34
What's the process in doing that?
Glenn Risbrook
1:37:38
I'll have my executive director of fleet and budget finance staff for you.
James Sarkis
1:37:43
Thank you for the question, council member Brewer.
1:37:46
We're working with our vendors very closely to ensure they take full advantage of all federal and state grant opportunities that are currently available to them.
Gale A. Brewer
1:37:53
Sometimes they don't write them.
James Sarkis
1:37:54
5 buses.
1:37:55
Excuse me.
Gale A. Brewer
1:37:56
Sometimes they don't write vendors.
1:37:58
So who's making sure that they actually write for the grants?
James Sarkis
1:38:02
Would say that we've actually had a significant number of applications that have been submitted thus far.
Gale A. Brewer
1:38:08
Okay.
1:38:08
How many?
James Sarkis
1:38:09
We've had 51 applications that have been submitted under 4 separate rounds of grant rounds.
1:38:15
15 of the 51 have been awarded.
1:38:18
We have applied as a as a division, as a system wide amongst all our vendors for 1400 buses, of which 416 have been awarded to us thus far.
1:38:30
So our vendors have had had a decent amount of success applying for electric buses.
1:38:34
We've held various workshops as well to educate our vendors.
1:38:38
The EPA has attended, NICE SIRDA has attended, Con Ed has attended, and we've had some good traction lately.
1:38:44
Especially on getting some of those of our smaller school bus vendors to apply.
1:38:49
Okay.
1:38:49
They do, you know, variance sophistication are are school bus companies.
1:38:53
So we know we have to really hold their hands in some instances to get some of them to apply.
1:38:57
So we're encouraging them that the best way to dip their toes into electrification, which can be a scary proposition for many of them, is to get a single bus and work toward that end goal of electrifying the entirety of their fleet.
Gale A. Brewer
1:39:09
Why wouldn't they apply?
1:39:10
Is there no place to plug in as we say?
James Sarkis
1:39:15
There's a variety of reasons.
1:39:16
Some of them could be infrastructure related.
1:39:19
Some are fearful of the length of some of the routes that they operate and whether an electric bus will be able to handle that type of load.
1:39:28
But there's various reasons they may be hesitant.
1:39:30
But for many of them, it's just kind of the fear of the unknown.
1:39:34
It's a very new
Gale A. Brewer
1:39:35
thing.
James Sarkis
1:39:35
Yeah.
1:39:36
Agreed.
1:39:36
They have to.
1:39:37
That's that's one of the reasons why we hold these workshops.
1:39:40
To try to work with them in education.
Gale A. Brewer
1:39:42
So so how many bus companies still need to apply?
1:39:45
Do you have some sense of that?
James Sarkis
1:39:48
We have about a dozen that have applied.
Gale A. Brewer
1:39:50
Okay.
James Sarkis
1:39:51
You said including their affiliates, and that's of of about 50 vendors.
1:39:55
There's a significant number of them that still need to apply.
