Get Help Uncovering Funding for Electric Buses

With lower operating costs and so many environmental benefits, adding electric buses to your school fleet is an easy decision. Knowing how to find, apply for and win school bus grants, however, can be hard. Fortunately, we can help. IC Bus® has a team of experts dedicated to helping school districts navigate the often confusing bus funding process.

Finding Grants for Buses

The first step is uncovering the programs that best fit your situation. With the nationwide move to electric, there is a wide range of electric school bus grant programs. In addition to federal initiatives, grants are also available from state governments, regional utilities and private partnerships. IC Bus helps untangle the options and find the best programs for your situation.

“We’re able to actually go by ZIP code to find what incentives are going to work for you, what makes the most sense and what's going to get you the most support as you transition to electric,” says Cassie McDonald, Grant Manager for International® and IC Bus.

Get All the Funding You Need

Infrastructure is a key part of the move to electric. We can help you find a bus and bus facilities grant program that covers related items like charging equipment, driver training and utility work.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that a single funding source is unlikely to cover all startup costs, so layered funding is typically needed. IC Bus can help you find complementary programs to fund your electrification. We can also connect you with electric bus financing through International Financial.

Free Grant Writing Assistance

The time-sensitive application process can be complicated, so the expert grant writing assistance provided by IC Bus is critical. "We are able to help you prepare the application, write the application and make sure it gets submitted on time. We can do a full application review. We also work with a trusted partner to help us make sure that we have everything that we need so you can feel confident with your grant submission,” says McDonald. “It can be a daunting concept to look at a fifteen page narrative grant for yourself for the first time, but that's why we're here and we can help you through that process... and you can realize that it’s not as difficult as it seems in the first place.”

More Benefits of Electric

With the rising price of gas, making the move to electric helps reduce your fleet’s operating costs over diesel. Plus, during peak power usage in summer when your buses are less active, energy stored in your bus batteries can be sold back to the grid to address utility overloads and help prevent outages.