Exclusive: Is the move to electric school buses by MCPS cutting the use of diesel fuel?

Recently, the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland, submitted to the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) a request for diesel fuel data.  The request was honored.

MCPS shared both gallons used, and the cost associated with the purchase of diesel fuel.  The data below reflect gallons of diesel fuel used across 6 calendar years -- 2018-2023.  MCPS also submitted gallons used for 2024 -- through August; however, those data are not shown since it was not a completed calendar year. 

Several notes:

• Clearly, one can see the impacts of closing schools due to Covid19.  Monthly gallon use for 2020 and 2021 reflect MCPS's move to virtual learning.  Across the other years, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023, MCPS, overall, used roughly 3 millions gallons of diesel fuel each calendar year.  There are very slight variations across these years.

• MCPS first introduced electric school buses (EV buses) during the 2021-22 school year; operating 25 EV buses from its Bethesda School Bus Depot.

• During the 2022-23 school year, MCPS added 61 more EV buses, bringing the total to 86 operating EV buses.  According to MCPS, during the 2024-25 school year an additional 240 EV buses will be added to the bus fleet bringing the total number of EV buses to 326 EV buses.*

• In October of 2022, former MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight said that when the procurement of the 326 electric buses is complete, “we are going to be saving upwards of 6,500 gallons of diesel fuel per day, and immediately, this is going to cut costs by 50%.”** 

*Details regarding numbers of EV buses can be found at this MCPS public website.  

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/facilities/sustainability/electric-vehicles/#:~:text=experience%20for%20students.”-,Electric%20School%20Buses,MCPS%20Bethesda%20School%20Bus%20Depot.

**https://electrek.co/2022/10/25/largest-electric-school-bus-fleet-us/

Joseph Hawkins