GreenPower announced its first electric school bus plant in the east Wednesday. It's a move that comes as concern builds regarding the harmful effects to students from breathing in harmful nitrogen oxide (Nox) and particulate matter emissions from the primarily diesel-powered buses.
“There are roughly 50,000 school buses on streets in New York State, polluting the communities they operate in with harmful emissions. It is estimated that fully electrifying school buses in New York City alone would be the equivalent of taking nearly 650,000 passenger vehicles off the road,” Hochul said in her speech.
“Anecdotally, evidence is, and you can see it when kids arrive to school, they're more alert, not as tired and that means they're better situated for a learning experience than if they got off diesel-emitting school buses as they have every day for years and years,” he said . The deal includes up to $3.5 million in employment incentive payments from West Virginia to GreenPower for up to 900 jobs created in the state as production increases over time. Combined with the lease payments once the total payments reach $6.7 million then title to the properties will be transferred to GreenPower.The new plant will be GreenPower's first electric school bus factory east of the Mississippi River.
While West Virginia agreed to purchase a minimum of $15 million in zero-emission GreenPower school buses Atkinson sees the potential to book $40-50 million in sales from the new facility.