AccuWeather has shared the story of how the “hottest school bus on the market” is doing in America’s coldest state, addressing the topic of batteries and cold weather. The article noted that Tok Transportation, which operates buses for the Alaska Gateway School District, is testing the limits of the tech. Co-owner Gerald Blackard told AccuWeather’s Emmy Victor that the company purchased an electric school bus to test in Alaska.
“In general, batteries and cold weather don’t go together. Any kind of batteries. So I saw a bit of a challenge there. I wanted to take the plunge and see if it could work.”
Alaska is America’s coldest state, and the lowest temperature ever recorded was 80 degrees below zero in 1972, with a high that day of 64 degrees below zero. In 2009, the low reached 78 below zero — almost tying that record. The article noted that for Tok, data doesn’t start until 2010, and the lowest between 2010 and 2022 was in December 2012 when the temperature dropped to 58 below zero.
Image courtesy of Tok Transportation
However, the electric bus has proven to be able to take on the extreme cold. Blackard told AccuWeather that the electric bus was able to work during temperatures that fell below zero.
“I think the lowest recording I have is -48. We’ve been lucky enough that the -50 and -60-degree days have been on weekends this year, so we haven’t had to drive it in those colder conditions yet.”
Electric vehicles are continually proving to be able to handle the cold unexpectedly better than many tend to think they do. There have been several cold-weather tests in Teslas and other vehicles since the Virginia highway winter disaster earlier this month, and there were many others for years before that. One such experiment took place in Canada, where temperatures recorded were 22 degrees below zero and 31 degrees below zero. Although that’s not as cold as 48 below or even 80 below, this does show that the myth that EVs don’t work in the cold will be known as such by the mainstream.
You can read more on the AccuWeather interview with Blackard here.
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