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California has the largest electric school bus fleet in the United States
California will invest $500 million to put 1,000 additional electric school buses on the road, following federal cuts and freezes that halted efforts in other states to replace aging diesel-powered fleets.
Governor Gavin Newsom's office announced Wednesday that 1,000 zero-emission school buses and related charging infrastructure will be provided to more than 130 rural, low-income, and disadvantaged school districts. The state grants add approximately 500 school bus charging stations to the more than 200 stations already operating in the districts.
This expansion contrasts with efforts in other states, which were hampered by uncertainty over federal funding. For months, more than 500 districts across the country waited for nearly $1 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cover more than 3,400 electric buses, causing panic and confusion. This led many districts to postpone or cancel purchases of new e-school buses.
In California, electric bus purchases are funded primarily by revenue from its cap-and-trade program. The program limits carbon emissions and requires polluters to obtain permits for every ton of carbon they emit. Buses are key to California's climate goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, and by 2035, nearly all new public school buses are expected to be emission-free.
California has the largest fleet of electric school buses in the country, having invested more than $1.3 billion in these initiatives and funded more than 2,300 buses. Of these, 1,100 are already in use, and some districts are 100% electric.
