BYD Reveals Electric School Bus with V2G Tech

• BYD unveils battery-electric Type A school bus, slated to be available in three lengths and with handicap accessibility.

• The bus has a range of up to 140 miles and vehicle-to-grid charging capability, which could provide energy back to the grid or a battery storage system.

• BYD has previously unveiled a larger battery-electric Type D bus designed to carry over 80 students, but it's not the only automaker offering electric school buses.

If there was a segment of public transportation in the US that was overdue for EV disruption, school buses—with their thick clouds of diesel smoke—are probably near the top. But despite the availability of a handful of battery-electric models, progress in their adoption nationwide has not exactly been easy to notice.

A few days ago BYD introduced its second battery-electric bus model, powered by a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. Slated to be available in three lengths—22.9, 24.5, and 26.7 feet—this is a Type A bus meant to transport about 30 students while offering handicap accessibility. Crucially, the bus is said to offer a range of 140 miles, which would be enough for most daily routes.

Curiously, BYD will offer one unexpected feature for what is at its core a commercial model: Bidirectional, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging that would allow the bus to cycle energy back to the grid. This type of feature has usually been pitched to private EV owners who also have a home-based energy storage system.