Posted on 02/14/2024 10:34:25 AM PST by jerod
Three years ago, the P.E.I. government rolled out its new electric school buses with much fanfare.
Now some drivers say the buses are plagued with problems, with 16 to 18 of the vehicles in the shop at a time on occasions, out of a total of just over 100.
Robert Geiss, president of CUPE Local 1145, which represents school bus drivers on the Island, says he believes the provincial government rushed into buying the new buses — and now students and drivers are paying the price.
He said the biggest problems are with the heating systems, leaving some buses icy cold and leading to windows fogging and freezing up. There also are issues with air compressors freezing, which can interfere with braking, Geiss said during an interview with CBC News.
"The drivers are frustrated with the electric buses. There's about 16 per cent of them in the shop at any given time with issues," said Geiss, who drives an electric school bus in the Summerside area....
...Twice this month, Gillis said, P.E.I. students had to be sent home on buses without working heaters because there were no spares available in their area.
"We took two things into consideration when we made the decision," he said. "One was the temperature outside; it wasn't excessively cold. And two was the drive times associated with the two buses in question. In both of those scenarios, we made the decision that it was not a safety issue as much as it was a comfort issue."
Officials with Lion Electric, the makers of the electric buses, acknowledge there are issues with the buses.
But Marie-Ève Labranche, Lion's manager of public and government relations, said student safety is the company's top priority.
Limited range can be a problem
Geiss said range is also an issue. The union president said drivers can't use the electric buses to take students to sporting events at some rural schools because they can't go far enough on a single charge.
P.E.I. puts 12 new electric school buses on the road The manufacturer says its electric school buses have a range of between 150 and 200 kilometres in ideal conditions, but Geiss said he's never seen any of the buses actually reach that number.
"I ran out of power on the way back from a school trip last year Up West," he said...
So who needs brakes when transporting students??? Stupid is, as stupid does.
Ping.
Electric buses in cold climates during winter...we have been howling about this...but they don’t want to hear it....
He didn’t ride my bus in the 60’s. Heater? Defroster? We froze. My driver was constantly chipping frost from the windows as he/she drove.
There is so much smog and it’s so hot there they had to buy electric buses.
It’s science.
The solution is obvious. Arrest the complaining bus drivers! They are wreckers!*
* Wreckers: Stalin’s term for people who deliberately try to undermine a socialist paradise.
Here in Florida, Canadians have a reputation of being ‘cheap’. Since their money is usually about 80% of ours, that is understandable.
What I don’t understand is this EV thing is waaaay more expensive than ICE vehicles, both to purchase and maintain, and yet they plunge into it head first..................
Note that this electric bus stupidity has been done by the Progressive “Conservative” goverment of PEI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_King_(politician)
When these fake-ass “conservatives” cave on expensive/stupid Leftist programs, they just validate that there is no alternative.
I think i remember reading a headline recently that some trucking company that went woke and bought electric vehicles regretted it later and sold them all off-
Do the bumbling bureaucrats drive EVs. What is the cost to citizens? Will they be held accountable and pay out of pocket for THEIR decisions?
Chief gripe from the bus drivers is the EV buses are so heavy to push when they break down. Exhausting.
A burning question for sure.
I guess the drivers do not like riding around in a bus that could explode at anytime.
Be pretty easy to install aux heaters - running off of either diesel or gasoline. Both kinds produce plenty of heat....
It’s PEI. Article could have ended there.
Progressive “Conservative”
That has to be the stupidest party on the planet. How can a “progressive” be conservative, and vice versa? Let’s just call them what they are, closet liberals.
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