A practical guide for transportation directors, CBOs, and school administrators navigating the transition to electric fleet charging.
Why Schools Are Going Electric
School districts across the country are making the shift to electric vehicles, and it’s not just buses. While electric school buses are the most visible part of the transition, districts are also electrifying their “white fleets” which includes maintenance trucks, delivery and food-service vans, even forklifts and golf carts.
But what’s driving the switch? According to Jessica Orton, a fleet electrification specialist at Camber, the motivations vary:
“Every district has a different reason for electrifying. Sometimes it’s driven by state requirements, sometimes it’s about creating a healthier environment for students, and very often it’s because grant funding has made electrification financially possible. With districts already facing tight budgets, understanding the available funding is an important part of determining what charging solution actually makes sense.”
The Grant Gate: Know Before You Buy
Here’s something that catches many districts off guard: not every charger qualifies for grant funding.
Most states maintain an approved equipment list, often broken down by manufacturer and model number. A charger from ABB, Telus, Autel, or Power Electronics might be on the list, but only specific models. If you fall in love with a charger that isn’t on your state’s approved list, you may not be able to fund the purchase through a grant.
This means the very first step in selecting a charger should be confirming that your desired equipment appears on your state’s eligibility list, before you get too far down the road.
Where Do I Put My Chargers?
The short answer: wherever the vehicles spend the night.
Many grants require chargers to be permanent installations located at the site where the vehicles are parked overnight. If a bus sleeps at the depot, the charger goes at the depot. If a van lives at the school, the charger goes at the school.
This sounds simple, but it has real implications for site design, electrical capacity, and cost, especially if trenching through a parking lot or playground is involved. As one school administrator learned, you really only want to dig that trench once.
Matching the Charger to the Vehicle (and the Route)
This is where most districts get into trouble, by either undersizing or oversizing their chargers.
Know Your Vehicle’s Capabilities
Different vehicles can only accept so much power. A school bus, for example, may only be able to pull 120 kW, even if you install a 360 kW charger. Buying more charger than your vehicle can use is wasted money.
Know Your Vehicle’s Capabilities
Route mileage is one of the biggest factors in determining the right charger size. A small district running 20-mile routes has very different needs than one running 100-mile routes twice a day.
“You can’t select the right charger without first understanding the vehicle, the route, and the time available to charge. If a bus is running two 100-mile routes a day, a 19.2 kW charger may not provide enough energy in the available window. That’s why we start with the operation and work backward to the charger—not the other way around.”
In one real-world example, a district that ended up with Level 2 chargers (typically 7 to 19 kW) for a 100-mile, twice-daily route. The result: they had to charge the bus between routes and then switch back to a diesel bus to finish the second half of the day. Not an ideal situation.
Plan for the Future
One of the most common mistakes districts make is thinking only about today’s needs. But routes change. Fleets grow. And upgrading a charger later can mean a complete site re-evaluation and new installation: ripping up concrete, re-trenching, and starting over.
“A lot of what we’re seeing now is rip-and-replace. Districts installed chargers that met the immediate need, but no one helped them understand what that power level would mean as their routes or fleets evolved. The goal should be to build the infrastructure once and make sure today’s investment can support where the district is going over the next several years.”
Ask yourself: What are our plans in the next 2, 3, 4, 5 years? Are routes going to change? Will we be adding more electric vehicles? Planning ahead can save enormous cost and disruption down the line.
The Core Factors in Right-Sized Charging
The right charging solution starts with the operation. Vehicle capability, route mileage, dwell time, site power, and future fleet plans all work together to determine the appropriate charger. Driver behavior and training then influence how that charging plan performs in the real world.
- Kilowatt Capacity: Match the charger’s power output to what the vehicle can actually accept and what the route demands. Too little and you can’t complete your routes. Too much and you’ve wasted budget.
- Dwell Time: How much time does the vehicle have between routes to charge? If a bus finishes its morning route and has six hours before the afternoon route, you need a charger that can reliably deliver a full charge within that window, ideally with some buffer.
- Driver Training: This is the factor most people overlook. How a driver operates an EV directly affects range and energy consumption. An aggressive driver who accelerates hard and doesn’t manage regenerative braking will burn through battery faster, potentially leaving the bus short on range for its next route.
“The charger is only one part of the equation. Two drivers can operate the same bus on the same route and come back with very different battery levels. Driver training, regenerative braking, and overall driving behavior all affect range. When we size charging infrastructure, we need to account for real-world operations—not just the range printed on a specification sheet.”
A well-trained driver can extend range, reduce charging time, and create natural buffer in the schedule. An untrained driver can eat through that margin, and if they also forget to plug in immediately after returning to the depot, that lost charging time could mean a missed route.
Beyond Buses: Charging as a School Amenity
Some districts are thinking beyond their fleet and installing chargers for staff, parents, and even students:
- Staff incentives: One California district offers free charging as part of its compensation package to attract teachers.
- Revenue generation: Another district uses chargers at football games and sporting events to generate revenue.
- Student rewards: Some schools raffle free charging or award it for perfect attendance as students increasingly drive EVs.
These use cases introduce new considerations, like payment systems. Many districts are turning to RFID card systems that allow them to control who charges, when, and whether they pay for it. If your charger will serve the public or staff, you’ll need a charger and software platform that supports payment and access control.
Don’t Forget Cord Management
It might sound like a minor detail, but cord management is a must-have for school installations. Without a cord management system, charging cables lay on the ground, creating trip hazards in environments full of children, staff, and visitors.
“For school sites, I strongly recommend cord management. These chargers are being installed in environments with drivers, staff, students, and visitors moving around them every day. Keeping cables properly managed helps protect the equipment, keeps the site organized, and, most importantly, reduces unnecessary trip and safety hazards.”
Once the liability angle is raised, most districts don’t hesitate. Most chargers offer cord management as an option; make sure it’s included.
Power Management: Optimizing Energy Costs
Schools still pay an electric bill, and many are using charge management software to schedule charging during off-peak hours when rates are lower. This is straightforward for overnight charging, but some districts, like those running multiple routes in remote areas, don’t have the luxury of choosing when to charge. They charge when they need to charge.
The right software platform can help districts understand their peak and off-peak windows, estimate costs, and automate charging schedules to minimize energy expenses.
It’s Not Just About the Hardware, It’s About the Partner
Here’s perhaps the most important takeaway from conversations with districts: schools don’t buy chargers. They buy trust.
Most district personnel don’t know, or particularly care, which manufacturer’s charger they’re getting. What they care about is whether the partner they choose will be there when something goes wrong.
“Selecting the right charger is important, but selecting the right partner is just as important. Districts need to know that if a charger goes down, they can call someone who understands their operation, responds quickly, and helps get that charger—and ultimately that vehicle—back in service. A charger is only valuable to a district if it’s available when the fleet needs it.”
The most common complaint from districts with broken chargers isn’t about the equipment, it’s about vendor responsiveness: “The charger’s not working. I can’t get anybody on the phone. They never come out on time. I have down buses.”
Districts that have been buying buses from the same dealer for 20 to 30 years don’t switch lightly. When they do switch, it’s almost always because of a breakdown in trust, not a breakdown in hardware.
The Bottom Line
Selecting the right EV charger for a K-12 school district comes down to a few key principles:
- Start with funding. Know what grants are available and ensure your chosen equipment is on your state’s approved list.
- Match the charger to the vehicle and the route. Don’t oversize. Don’t undersize. Ask the right questions about vehicle capabilities, daily mileage, and dwell time.
- Plan for the future. Think 2 to 5 years ahead. Trenching and installation should happen once, not repeatedly.
- Invest in driver training. It’s the hidden variable that can make or break your daily operations.
- Include cord management. It’s a small investment that eliminates major liability.
- Choose a partner, not just a product. The right charger is the one backed by a team that answers the phone and shows up when it matters.
“There isn’t one ‘best’ EV charger for every school district. The right charger is the one that fits the vehicle, the route, the dwell time, the available power, the funding requirements, and the district’s plans for the future. That’s why the conversation should never start with, ‘Which charger do you want?’ It should start with, ‘What does your fleet need to accomplish every day?’”
The transition to electric is a journey, and like any good route, it helps to have a map before you start driving.
This article is based on an interview with Jessica Orton, fleet electrification specialist at Camber. Camber provides dependable EV charging solutions specifically designed for fleets, offering charging equipment, installation, and comprehensive electrification solutions tailored for fleet needs, including charge management software to optimize energy use, monitor charging operations, and maintain chargers remotely.
