GreenPower Motor Company employees work on a Mega BEAST electric bus bound for Wyoming County Schools on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, at the companyƵs factory in South Charleston.
GreenPower Motor Company employees work on a Mega BEAST electric bus bound for Wyoming County Schools on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, at the companyƵs factory in South Charleston.
GreenPower Motor Co. has announced a pause in production of electric school buses at its factory in South Charleston. Not an end, but a pause. Nevertheless, a pause is enough to make people wonder about the future of a company fully committed to large electric vehicles.
EVs may be popular among a segment of automobile buyers Ƶ although the market shows buyers are more friendly to electric-fossil fuel hybrids Ƶ but battery power has yet to make a real dent in the truck-based segment of the transportation industry.
According to a statement issued by GreenPower this week, the main reason for the layoffs and production pause was Trump administration trade tariffs, which Ƶsignificantly increased GreenPowerƵs operational costs and disrupted the companyƵs ability to build and deliver buses in a timely manner.Ƶ GreenPowerƵs corporate offices are based in Canada, but its operational headquarters are in California.
GreenPower said it is not the only bus manufacturer affected.
ƵThis business instability and the significantly increased costs impacts all school bus manufacturers whether they are producing electric, diesel, propane or gas school buses,Ƶ the statement said.
Reality check: GreenPower has struggled for years. In the four quarters that ended March 31, the company reported a net loss of $21.46 million. Its stock sold for about $35 a share in January 2021. At the market close on Thursday, it sold for 43 cents. The Trump tariffs arenƵt the problem. The business plan of going all in on electric trucks and buses is.
Blue Bird Corp., one of three large-scale school bus manufacturers based in the United States, reported net income of $24.7 million in its 2024 fiscal year, down from $105.5 million in 2023, but it still earned a profit. In the quarter that ended May 29, Blue Bird reported net income of $26 million, unchanged from 2023. But Blue Bird, like competitors Thomas Built Buses and IC Corp., sells buses with a variety of powertrains. None of the three are pure-play electric.
On May 5, GreenPower issued a news release saying it had delivered three large buses to its dealer for delivery to the Grant County, West Virginia, school district. Ƶ of that date, GreenPower had delivered 22 buses to school districts in West Virginia Ƶ 16 large buses and six smaller ones, according to the news release. The next scheduled delivery was to be to Calhoun County.
GreenPowerƵs business model depends on aid from the state and federal governments. Former Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Legislature provided financial incentives for school districts in the state to buy GreenPower buses.
More important is the Clean School Bus Program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. That program was funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It included an award of $18.565 million for seven West Virginia school districts to deploy 50 GreenPower all-electric buses manufactured in South Charleston. The contract for the award was signed in December 2024.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration paused that program, but it has since resumed.
The school bus market is a large, complicated one. Replacing large numbers of buses burning fossil fuels is a slow, expensive process that is feasible in some places but not in others. Established companies selling buses with a variety of fuel sources will have an advantage over startups with limited product offerings. The odds are against GreenPower. It could recover. Or it may not. The market for buses and the patience of investors, not incentives, will determine the companyƵs future in West Virginia.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Recommended for you
If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.
