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Lion Electric joined U.S. V.P. Kamala Harris in launch of U.S. clean school bus program

FALLS CHURCH — The Lion Electric Company, a manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, joined Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan at an event in Falls Church, Virginia for the official launch of the EPA’s $5 billion Clean School Bus Program. The program is now accepting applications and will award up to $375,000 per zero-emission school bus.

“We are honored to have been invited by Vice President Harris and EPA Administrator Regan in Virginia today for the official launch of this ambitious program which will accelerate the adoption of zero-emission school buses, to the benefit of the health of our students,” said Brian Piern, Chief Commercial Officer of Lion Electric. “With this $5 billion in funding the EPA is showing that zero-emission school buses are the future of student transportation, something we, at Lion, recognized when we began developing our all-electric buses over a decade ago. Lion’s dedicated grants team is ready to assist customers in applying for and securing these funds, leaning on our expertise and strong track record of success.”

Lion is involved in the transition to clean student transportation that the Biden Administration and EPA are aiming to accelerate with the Clean School Bus Program. Lion is able to assist customers in securing this funding to deploy “made in America” buses to be built at its Joliet, Illinois manufacturing facility. This facility, which has a planned annual production capacity of up to 20,000 vehicles, is a large manufacturing plant and plans to commence production in the second half of 2022.

As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the U.S. Federal Government has dedicated $5 billion in funding to deploy zero-emission and clean school buses over the next five years. The first tranche of $500 million in funding will close on August 19, after which the EPA will distribute funds to deploy clean school buses around the country.

Under the Clean School Bus Program, priority districts can receive up to $375,000 per zero-emission bus, which can represent up to 100% of the cost of an all-electric school bus.