The administration of now-former President Joe Biden tried to bankroll the use of electric school buses at government schools across the country.
But as the electric buses continue to have massive reliability issues, some schools regret taking the federal handouts and now want help from the Environmental Protection Agency to get themselves out of the program.
Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin wrote a letter to the agency voicing concerns with the program, asking for waived penalties for not using buses provided by manufacturer Lion Electric, according to a Monday report from WGME-TV in Portland, Maine.
“Specifically, we urge the agency to pursue legal remedies, including claw-backs of federal funding or other resources provided to the company,” he wrote.
There are at least six districts reporting massive problems with Lion Electric school buses they bought through the federal program.
The two electric buses received by Yarmouth Schools have been with the district for a year and a half, but they have only been used a few times because of functionality issues, per WGME-TV.
“We are trying to work with Lion to have those buses replaced, or to receive compensation for those buses, but really not making much progress at this point and time,” Yarmouth Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said in comments to the station.
“We run them for a day or so and then we get error messages about engine failures or battery failures,” he described.
Dolloff reported difficulties in communicating with a representative from Lion Electric, which does not have any staffers in the area to handle bus maintenance.
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“We are not able to run them until those messages are cleared,” Dolloff added.
WPFO-TV in Waterville, Maine, reported on the same issue at government schools in the state, noting that the Biden administration earmarked $3 billion for the project across the country.
As of last fall, the EPA burned $1 billion of those funds to put just 5,000 electric buses on the roads.
For those keeping score at home, that’s a healthy $200,000 per electric bus, which is much more expensive than your typical diesel school bus.
Even beyond the inflated cost, the poor reliability of these electric buses points to the folly of trying to manipulate the free market for political reasons.
While electric vehicles are advancing in their sophistication, they still have reliability issues that do not affect gas-powered alternatives, such as the fact that they do not charge as easily in the winter.
That is, of course, a relevant factor for Maine, which receives quite a bit of winter weather.
Despite all of these concerns, rather than simply waiting a few more years and allowing the free market to advance the technology, Biden and his handlers put their thumbs on the scale.
Responding to federal handouts, producers and consumers alike shifted toward making and selling more electric vehicles, overlooking reliability issues to access those federal dollars.
Now they just want their money back.
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