The Twin Cedars Community School District is awaiting the arrival of four electric buses.

Twin Cedars Superintendent Scott Bridges applied for an Environmental Protection Agency Grant for the buses in December of 2021. The district received $1.5 million through the grant for the buses and an additional $80,000 for charging stations. Twin Cedars incurred a cost of $50,000 to upgrade their electric service through MidAmerican Energy, but through investments, the district was able to pay for upgrades. 

The electric buses have arrived at the dealership in Des Moines, but their arrival at Twin Cedars are awaiting the completion of the upgrades to the electric services. Once the buses are delivered to the district, they will be required to be run for eight years and four fossil fuel buses will have to be removed from their fleet within a year of their arrival. While concerns have been raised about the electric nature of the buses, Bridges says that the district is confident that they are completely safe for students.

“These things are designed such that if there are thousands of small cells in the battery pack, that technology wise they can shut themselves off and separate themselves from the rest of the battery if there’s ever an issue with just the one cell. So, it basically takes care of itself. ”

Hear more about the electric buses at Twin Cedars Schools on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.