Pegasus Specialty Vehicles, a Dunkirk, Ohio-based company in the school and transit bus industries, announced details of a newly penned agreement with the nation’s largest bus dealership, Creative Bus Sales, during a media event held at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo on May 11, in Long Beach, Calif.
Pegasus will be building Type A school buses and electric shuttle and paratransit buses using the Zeus Electric Chassis Power Platform to deliver what it says will be categorically different from the gas or diesel conversions that dominate the market today. The ground-up design of the Zeus Z-19 cab-chassis is purpose-built and optimized for bus body installation and system integration.
The deal with Creative Bus Sales enables all three companies to capture sales and win a portion of the abundant federal and state grant money incentivizing rapid electric-bus adoption. With Creative Bus Sales’ nationwide distribution footprint and deep market penetration, coupled with the unique BEV offering from Pegasus and Zeus, the organizations are well positioned to compete.
With all-wheel-drive, independent suspension and a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of up to 19,500 lbs, a Pegasus Bus on a Zeus Z-19 Power Platform is different from other vehicles in the Type A school bus, shuttle and paratransit bus categories. Its electric motors generate a continuous rated 290 horsepower and 2,040 ft-lbs of torque, enabling it to operate in inclement weather, on challenging topographies and allowing it to transport a payload of up to 8,000 lbs within a standard range of 150 miles.
Significant funding on both the state and national levels is accelerating the growth of the electric school bus market. Nationally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has allocated $5 billion over five years to replace diesel school buses across the U.S. and U.S. territories. While states individually manage their VW Beneficiary Mitigation settlement funds, most include significant opportunity for electric bus grants. Other state programs are being rolled out — for example, the California Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (HVIP) offers $130M for public school buses, and more is available for commercial and transit bus applications.
The agreement with Creative Bus Sales provides a national dealership base for Pegasus and allows the company to leverage its extensive service network and long-established expertise in the bus market. Creative Bus Sales is an HVIP-registered dealer for customers in California. Zeus Electric Chassis has been awarded an Executive Order (EO) from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its model year 2022 Z-19 and Z-22 all-electric work trucks.
