RE board hears school bus hybrid proposal
By CYNTHIA AUKERMAN
News-Gazette reporter
Rob Lykins, president of Productive Concepts Inc., would like for Randolph Eastern to be the first to buy a hybrid conversion unit from his company. The hybrid would use less fuel, be easier on the brakes, reduce emissions and, in general, save the school district money.
"We need to get one on the road to show the state how it works," Lykins said.
There are risk obstacles in being first to try the new technology. The biggest obstacle is that the state agency in charge of school bus monitoring doesn't quite know what to think about the hybrid proposal. No hybrid conversion buses are in use in the state.
The hybrid conversion unit, developed and produced by Variable Torque Motors in Fort Wayne, costs $38,000. But that conversion unit, according to VTM's figures, can extend the life of a bus from three or four years to 10 years.
Lykins and Superintendent Cathy Stephen have been talking school buses since March.
"I was shocked to see how often you buy school buses," Lykins said.
VTM's conversion unit does not use batteries. Instead, it uses an ultra capacitor that its inventor, Lawrence Zepp, says is like "bottled lightning." The ultra capacitor provides a high output of energy with a low storage volume.
Basically, the hybrid refit allows the bus to use its braking to harvest energy. One ultra capacitor captures as much energy as would require 1,000 pounds of battery to store.
While the $32,800 figure for retrofitting an existing bus seems high, Lykins is sure the price will come down once the hybrid conversions demonstrate their efficiency.
Lykins acknowledged the $32,800 figure was "a big number."
Stephen said the state right now will not allow schools to use the bus replacement fund for hybrid conversions, but the school could use its transportation operating fund to pay for the cost. She said that fund is "in pretty good shape" but could not afford the $32,800 all in one year.
Lykins is exploring local leasing possibilities that would allow the school district to convert a bus to hybrid use and pay for it over five years.
Schools are under increasing pressure to "go green," Stephen said. Those mandates are costing up to $5,000 extra for each bus the district purchases.
Lykins said the pressure to "go green" illustrates his motto that "Timing Is Everything."
The next step in the process to get Randolph Eastern in on the ground floor of PCI's hybrid conversion business is to seek approval by the state school bus authority. Lykins said he had already approached its director and found him to be "cautiously optimistic."
Lykins and Zepp will soon be making a full-fledged presentation to the state. Also among the next steps is for PIC to provide payback figures for RE based on the corporation's actual school bus routes.
Lykins said PCI's installation of hybrid units in new buses, in connection with a Canadian firm, had already taken off. He said, "I've been shocked at how busy we are with the alternative fuel vehicles."
About the conversion units for used buses, Lykins said, "We have huge aspirations for this project."
