The days of diesel fumes choking the air for hundreds of Bay Area students appear to be in the rearview, thanks to a partnership deal struck by Oakland Unified School District. In a Facebook post Thursday, Oakland Unified announced that it is the first school district in the nation to use a fully electric bus fleet after partnering with electric bus startup Zūm. The American Lung Assn.
1 gigawatt hours of energy back to the grid by charging overnight and running on electric batteries at high usage times. “Buses are the ideal energy resource in that they sit idle during the day and during peak power usage hours,” Jenny Mayfield, Zūm’s vice president of communications, said in an email. “Thus, they can discharge and power the grid at these times.” The company began working with Oakland Unified in 2020.