In 2018, the IC Electric School Bus chargE™ toured North America, with the goal of showcasing a concept electric school bus to school bus industry stakeholders and groups focused on clean technologies and innovations. As an early example of Navistar's alliance with Volkswagen Truck and Bus (now known as TRATON), the chargE™ brings together multiple concepts and technologies that will shape the school bus of the future.

Electric technology tailor-made for school buses

The chargE is a purpose-built, fully integrated electric Type C concept school bus that incorporates a common group electric drivetrain from alliance partner TRATON that is quiet, does not produce any emissions, and can be built to address any school bus customer's specific requirements.

The chargE includes connected systems and remote diagnostics that support vehicle safety, uptime and more efficient vehicle inspections. The chargE also features an exclusive, purpose-built camera solution, the IC Bus Full View Camera Technology™ by Rosco, that makes the driver's job easier and safer.

One of the reason’s IC Bus chose to bring the chargE to California’s state capitol, is because Sacramento has purchased the largest amount of electric vehicles per capita in the United States, and there was also a great opportunity to introduce this technology to senior leaders at the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

Check out Episode 1: Batteries Included of the IC Electric Bus Tour to hear what industry stakeholders had to say about the chargE electric bus in Sacramento, California.