Electrify all 160 buses within five years with no gap in service.Section 3.1
We swap buses by depot, a few dozen a year, and every new bus shadows its diesel for two weeks before the diesel retires.
See the depot map5:40 AMMill Street depot
First driver in, lights on
First driver in, lights on
VOLTCREST MOBILITY
for
Pine Hollow Unified School District
All 160 buses go electric by fall 2031, and every route still makes first bell.
Response to RFP PHUSD 2026-14Student transportation fleet electrificationNovember 3, 2026
160buses replaced
3depots wired
5school years
$38,015,600contract total
You asked four things.
Here's where each is answered.
5:52 AMRead back from Sections 3 to 5 of your RFP
Keep every route whole in the coldest weeks of winter.Section 3.4
Every route was checked against last January's low of minus 11. One needs a midday top-up, and it's already scheduled.
Test a routeUse every grant and utility program the district qualifies for.Section 4.2
We file the federal rebate, the utility make-ready program and the state workforce grant for you. They're shown under the total as offsets.
See the offsetsTrain our own drivers and technicians to run and repair the fleet.Section 5.1
172 drivers and 18 technicians, trained in your yards on your buses, with two of your technicians certified to train the next ones.
See the transportation chapterSlide five school years
across your three yards.
6:10 AMAll 146 routes and 14 spares, drawn from your 2025-26 route sheets
Every line is a route. Grey runs on diesel today. Cyan runs on electricity. Drag the year or press play and watch the yards change, the chargers come online and the diesel bill fall.
TodayFall 2026, all diesel
0electric of 160
0chargers live
0gallons of diesel saved
0tons of CO2 avoided
$0grants received
$0fuel and repairs saved
Figures assume 12,800 miles per bus per year, 7 miles per gallon on diesel today and the grant amounts shown in the price. Change the buses per year in the price and this map follows.
Test your longest route on your coldest morning.
6:24 AMPine Hollow, January 14 last winter, minus 11
Pick a route and drop the temperature. The bar shows what the bus can plan for after keeping a 20 percent reserve for detours and a heater running the whole way.
4°FOutside at 6 AM
minus 153280
Route 12, Ridge Road loop
Ridgeline depot, 74 miles a day
0 mi60120180 mi
Four signatures.
Four straight answers.
6:40 to 7:30 AMOne chapter for each person who signs or votes
Each question is written the way you'd ask it in the hallway. Each answer is complete without a call.
MA
Dr. MarisolSuperintendent
“Can anything about this leave a child standing at a stop?”
No. That's the rule the whole plan is built around, and here's how it holds up in writing.
- 01No route switches until it's proven.Each new bus runs its route beside the diesel it replaces for two school weeks. The diesel only retires after ten on-time mornings in a row.
- 02Spares stay at nine percent the whole way.Every depot keeps the same spare ratio it has today, so a bus in the shop never means a route without a bus.
- 03We pay when we miss.If an electric bus misses a run because of a fault on our side, we pay for the substitute run and credit the district $1,500 for each one.
DA
DaleDirector of Transportation
“Will my yard still work at six in the morning?”
Yes, and it'll be quieter. Your drivers pull out the same way they do now. The difference is when buses fill up. Charging happens in the two windows your buses already sit still, and none of it touches the utility's 4 PM to 9 PM peak.
- Morning routes5:50 to 8:30 AM
- Midday top-up, off peak9:30 AM to 1:30 PM
- Afternoon routes2:30 to 5:00 PM
- Utility peak, nothing charges4:00 to 9:00 PM
- Overnight charge9:00 PM to 5:30 AM
190drivers and technicians trained in your own yards
4 hrson-site response from our Valley service center
2of your technicians certified to train the rest
PR
PriyaAssistant Superintendent, Business Services
“What hits each budget year, and what if a grant doesn’t come through?”
Spending follows deliveries, so no year carries more than its own buses and the chargers installed the summer before. The chart reads from the price below, so it changes when the configuration does.
By fiscal year, July to June
District shareCovered by grants
If a rebate round is cancelled, we hold bus prices for 90 days after the announcement so you can move that year's order to the next round. Nothing is ordered on the strength of a grant you haven't been awarded.
SB
Ruth and the boardBoard of Education, five members
“In plain words, what are we voting on?”
We're replacing all 160 diesel school buses with electric ones over five school years.
The contract is $38,015,600, and grants should cover about $7.3 million of it.
Once every bus is electric, fuel and repairs cost about $1.4 million less each year.
Children ride the same routes, at the same times, with the same drivers.
You vote once, on December 9, and each year's order comes back to you as a consent item.
Reads aloud in about 40 seconds.
Installs happen in summer,
when the yards are empty.
7:45 AMFive school years from the board vote to the last diesel retiring
School in sessionSummer install window
Every line, priced on its own.
7:58 AMPrices hold for all five years
Change the buses per year, the chargers per depot or any option. The total updates, the grants recalculate and the depot map above follows.
What we'd sign if we were you. Keep the schedule as drawn and keep managed charging. It costs $1,174,000 over five years and avoids roughly $96,000 a year in demand charges at full fleet, so it pays for itself by the fourth year and keeps the yards off the utility's peak. If the budget has to come down, slow the 2031 order before touching chargers or grid work, because buses can wait a year and wiring can't be rushed.
The terms, and what we don't know yet.
8:00 AMPlain language, the full contract follows the vote
Terms
- You pay per bus, on delivery.Each bus is invoiced when it arrives and passes your inspection. Chargers are invoiced once they've charged a bus.
- Prices hold for five years.The only adjustment is if the state changes its voucher amount, which passes straight through to you.
- Warranty.Batteries for eight years or 150,000 miles. Buses for five years, bumper to bumper. Chargers for five years with parts and labor.
- Pause any year.Each year's order goes to the board as a consent item. A pause before the January order date costs nothing.
- Your data stays yours.Route, charging and maintenance data belongs to the district and exports any time in standard formats.
Open questions
- 1Creekside's transformer date.Pine Valley Power hasn't confirmed it. If it slips past spring 2029, we swap Creekside's 2029 buses with Ridgeline's 2030 batch and the total doesn't change.
- 2The 2028 federal rebate round.It hasn't been announced. Our grant figure assumes it runs at the 2026 amount per bus.
- 3The Ridgeline lease.It ends in 2033. Chargers can move, conduit can't. Do you plan to renew?
- 4Long field trips.Should six diesel buses stay on as spares through 2032 for trips over 150 miles?
Vote December 9.
The first 24 buses roll in August 2027.
8:05 AMFirst bell
Nov 21Reply to accept
It holds the 24-bus build slot for fall 2027. Build slots for 2027 close in January.
Dec 9We present to the board
Twenty minutes, with Owen, our public fleets lead, and Teresa, the engineer who designed your depots.
Jan 12Contract and first order
Signed contract, year-one order placed, federal rebate application filed the same week.
Thanks. Owen will send the contract for $38,015,600 with your configuration attached and hold the board's December 9 slot. Nothing is ordered until the vote.
Questions before then go to Owen, public fleets lead at Voltcrest Mobility. He answers the same day.