Winthrop officials meet with federal government over defective electric school buses

Problems persist with electric buses acquired under the federal government's Clean School Bus Program The buses were ordered taken off the road for safety reasons earlier this year, but were returned to Lion Electric this week. . If the vehicle fails the vehicle inspection and is determined to be unable to drive safely. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Winthrop — Winthrop Public Schools department leaders met this week with the federal Department of Education to replace the district's four grant-funded electric school buses, which again failed inspection this week and were deemed unfit for operation. We are planning to consider how to proceed.

The four electric buses, supplied through Quebec-based Lion Electric, were riddled with problems first reported in December, but Transportation Commissioner Josh Wheeler said one of the buses He said the last straw came in February when his power steering failed and he had to drive. Stop the bus by driving it into a snowbank.

The bus was returned to the company shortly after the incident, Wheeler said.They have been fixed. But when it was returned to Winthrop last week, a Maine State Police inspection unit found more problems, particularly problems with the emergency exit and heating system, making the bus unfit for operation.

Wheeler and Winthrop Public Schools Superintendent Jim Hodgkin plan to meet with federal leaders clean school bus program, The companies awarded the grant will work with representatives from the Ministry of Education to purchase the buses and consider how to proceed.

“I think it's frustrating. They've been gone for three months and they've gone over it thoroughly with a fine-toothed comb and they've failed,” Hodgkin told the Kennebec Journal. “(Lion Electric Co., Ltd.) responded very courteously. When we heard that the bus had broken down, they had a limited number of technicians, but they sent one this week or next. (Wheeler) police and state police will investigate what happened.”

Wheeler updated the Winthrop School Board at Wednesday's meeting. He noted that two Maine State Police inspectors who regularly inspect school buses were new to the situation and had not conducted the previous two inspections.

Inspectors found all four buses – all 2023 models with miles between 532 and 29,053 – had problems with the emergency doors not engaging or being difficult to open. Diesel heaters on two buses did not work. A seat belt cutter was missing from one bus. On one bus, the motor would not start. Additionally, two of the cars were not connected to a charging station.

Issues recorded by the inspector will be coded as “OOS”. This means that the defect renders the vehicle inoperable.

Patrick Gervais, Lion Electric's vice president of trucks and public relations, said in a statement to the Kennebec Journal that some damage occurred during flatbed transport on the electric bus, but the company plans to take necessary steps. said. Inspect and repair the bus.

“Some damage occurred during transportation, but nothing that affected critical systems,” Gervais said. “A few minor items had to be addressed by our service team, but this is not unusual when large vehicles are transported on flatbeds. All items reported have been addressed. , damage to one vehicle's heating system that occurred during transport will be addressed immediately.

Although Winthrop Public Schools did not pay for the four electric school buses, they were approved by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection to participate in the Clean School Bus Program. The district replaced each free electric school bus it received with a diesel bus.

“every time I spoke at the board meeting pastI electric car is wonderfulI think about the programThis is great and the effort put into this is great, but now the at the time where I'm inhe was in the middle of the road Must make deIt’s excision,” Wheeler said.

School Board Chair Alicia Lawson asked if other schools are having the same problems as Winthrop. Wheeler said the Yarmouth City Schools Department is still having problems with two electric buses that had leaking windshields when they were first delivered.

Mr. Wheeler also wrote an article highlighting the financial difficulties facing the company, including the company laying off 100 employees amid a $100 million loss in profits, as reported by the Financial Post. He also mentioned that he had read.

Yarmouth Transportation Director Chris Storer said the school division only used the electric school buses for one week last year and three weeks this year before they were returned to the company for repairs. Like Winthrop's buses, his two 2023 models from Yarmouth have less than 3,000 miles on them, while the diesel buses that transport students during the average school year have about 10,000 miles.

“We've had heater failures, compressor failures, major battery failures, reduced power levels, etc.,” Storer said. “Recently, we have been experiencing overheating that causes the bus to lose power.”

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