Recommended Total Cost of Ownership Parameters for Electric School Buses: Summary of Methods and Data

This Technical Note serves as a reference guide for conducting total cost of ownership (TCO) analyses for diesel and electric school buses, providing recommended default specifications for parameters such as procurement, maintenance, and operating costs to assist school districts and policymakers in the United States.

• The document provides a landscape analysis and recommended default specifications for TCO calculation parameters, including purchase costs, maintenance and operating costs, fuel economies, vehicle lifetime, and charger and installation costs, to improve the understanding of electric school bus (ESB) economics.
• TCO calculations for ESBs are currently difficult because the necessary industry data for input parameters have not been tracked in a consistent, centralized, or public manner and vary across different sources.
• A budget reconciliation bill signed in July 2025 mandates the elimination of specific tax credits: the 45W credit for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, and the 30C credit for refueling property and charging installations placed in service after June 30, 2026.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Recommended Total Cost of Ownership Parameters for Electric School Buses: Summary of Methods and Data. https://www.wri.org/research/recommended-total-cost-ownership-parameters-electric-school-buses-methods-data

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Recommended Total Cost of Ownership Parameters for Electric School Buses: Summary of Methods and Data. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/recommended-total-cost-ownership-parameters-electric-school-buses-methods-data.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Recommended Total Cost of Ownership Parameters for Electric School Buses: Summary of Methods and Data |url=https://www.wri.org/research/recommended-total-cost-ownership-parameters-electric-school-buses-methods-data |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendrecommended, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Recommended Total Cost of Ownership Parameters for Electric School Buses: Summary of Methods and Data}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/recommended-total-cost-ownership-parameters-electric-school-buses-methods-data}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }