HEADLINE: “Your Tax Dollars At Waste: Kansas School District Halts EV Buses Due to Student Safety Concerns” DAVID BLACKMON

“Local TV station KSNT reports that the district took action due to repeated dangerous operational issues with the buses, including brake failure, steering loss, and other safety-related problems.”

Your Tax Dollars At Waste: Kansas School District Halts EV Buses Due to Student Safety Concerns

DAVID BLACKMON

APR 23, 2025

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“Out of an abundance of caution, and in line with our highest priority of student safety, we made the decision to remove the buses from active service while we work with the manufacturer toward resolution.”

So says Wabaunsee USD 329 Superintendent Dr. Troy Pitsch in a Jan. 3, 2025 press release announcing his decision to remove a pair of pricey electric school buses from service. Local TV station KSNT reports that the district took that action due to repeated dangerous operational issues with the buses, including brake failure, steering loss, and other safety-related problems.

The buses in question were manufactured by a Quebec-headquartered outfit named Lion Electric, which also had operations in both California and Illinois. I use the past tense there because Lion Electric decided in December, 2024 to file for creditor protection under the Canadian Companies Creditor’s Arrangement Act. The company also announced it would seek recognition of those proceedings in the USA under Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, according to KSNT.

But those dual bankruptcy filings came only after hundreds of millions of U.S. and Canadian subsidy dollars had been poured into the company to enable it to manufacture its faulty products.

The Washington Free Beacon reported the Biden administration had awarded Lion Electric nearly $160 million to produce electric school buses. According to the Financial Post, the Quebec government has invested $177 million and the Canadian government has invested $30 million into the company.

Nevertheless, by the time of its multiple bankruptcy/creditor protection filings, Lion Electric had somehow managed to pile up over $500 million in debts and liabilities with virtually no real assets to show for it.

According to its bankruptcy/creditor protection filings, Lion Electric leaves behind a sizable list of school districts which will now be holding extremely expensive bags due to their stupid decisions to buy into the EV bus scam.

From the KSNT report:

According to the KSDE, the first districts in Kansas to receive electric school buses were:

Southern Lyon County, four buses, $372,500 per bus, a total amount of $1,490,000.

Waconda USD 272, four buses, $395,000 per bus, a total amount of $1,580,000.

Wabaunsee USD 329, two buses, $395,000 per bus, a total amount of $790,000.

Sterling USD 376, two buses, $395,000 per bus, a total amount of $790,000.

Caney Valley USD 436, two buses, $395,000 per bus, a total amount of $790,000.

Halstead USD 440, three buses, $395,000 per bus, a total amount of $1,185,000.

USD 252 Superintendent Ryan Muhlig told 27 News the school buses the district purchased from another company, Thomas Built Buses, have been performing very well, even in the extreme cold. He said his district had to trade in diesel buses as part of the deal with the EPA.

“While we originally hoped for four electric buses, we received three as part of the final arrangement,” Muhlig said.

USD 436 Superintendent Blake Vargas told 27 News that their district purchased buses through International IC Bus. He said the district is pleased with their operation, but noted that similar to diesel buses, they don’t like extreme negative temperatures.

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In Topeka, USD 501 is anticipating a delivery of 25 electric school buses from Thomas Built Buses in 2025, according to General Director of Transportation and Campus Police Bill Cochran.

27 News has reached out to Lion Electric and the EPA for comment but has yet to receive a response.

[End]

Everyone should understand that we will be treated to stories like this one for many years, as we are just at the tip of what is going to become an enormous iceberg of bankruptcies filed by EV and renewable energy startups which came into being strictly to suck the teat of IRA subsidies.

As long as American voters keep electing Democrats and Canadians keep electing LDP candidates like Mark Carney, scams like these will never end.

That is all.

BOTTOMLINE: “Everyone should understand that we will be treated to stories like this one for many years, as we are just at the tip of what is going to become an enormous iceberg of bankruptcies filed by EV and renewable energy startups which came into being strictly to suck the teat of IRA subsidies.”