Tucson Unified School District has added 10 all-electric school buses to its fleet, advancing its Climate Action and Sustainability goals while cutting greenhouse gas emissions across Tucson.
The buses, according to a news release from TUSD, replace 10 aging diesel vehicles and are expected to eliminate about 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide over their lifespan. That's the equivalent of removing roughly 270 passenger cars from local roads.
The purchase was funded through a $4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program, along with $1.1 million in rebates from Tucson Electric Power and $1.2 million from district bond funds. The buses were purchased from RWC Group, and Schneider Electric oversaw installation of the charging infrastructure.
The project is also Arizona’s first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) equipped electric school bus initiative, allowing the buses to send energy back to the grid during peak demand to improve reliability, lower costs and further reduce emissions.
