IC Bus introduced its production model CE Series Electric bus to school districts and IC Bus dealerships across California during a two-week, eight stop tour that began in early November.
Joining the tour was In-Charge Energy, a leading energy and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure solutions company and partner of Navistar, as well as experts from NEXT, Navistar’s eMobility business unit. By taking the electric bus on the road, IC Bus is showing firsthand how its product, as well as its end-to-end turnkey solution, works for customers looking to make the switch to electric.
“When talking about electric buses, it’s important to understand it goes well beyond just the vehicle, you need a true partner for the entire electrification process,” said Trish Reed, vice president and general manager of IC Bus, in a press release. “Together with our internal NEXT team, as well as our partners, IC Bus is positioned to offer everything our customers need for a safe, seamless transition to electric.”
The IC Bus CE Series Electric is the first and only electric school bus in the industry to offer three regenerative braking modes to ensure optimum performance of the school bus and maximize available battery range of more than 200 miles with the largest battery configuration installed, according to the company.
The CE Series Electric offers industry-leading range and districts will be able to outfit their electric vehicle with one, two, or three battery packs depending on their application needs, which offer approximate ranges of 70, 135, or 200-plus miles per charge. IC Bus says it’s the only OEM to offer up to three batteries on an electric school bus.
The CE Series electric is designed to give customers a zero-emissions vehicle that will offer AC and DC charging as standard. This in turn gives users the flexibility of using efficient level 2 charging or a DC fast charge. The vehicle-to-grid charging capacity is also standard, which makes it possible for districts to sell electric power back to their local utility companies if their operations create surplus energy.
