Exclusive | Less than 40% of EV school buses purchased with Biden-era EPA grants have been delivered: Taxpayer dollars vanished

Less than 40% of electric school buses purchased under a multibillion-dollar Biden-era program have been delivered, new statistics released by the EPA Thursday reveal.  The slow pace of deliveries, coupled with concerns over the reliability of the EV buses, have prompted many school districts to pull out of the $5 billion “Clean School Bus Program,” for which some $2.7 billion in taxpayer funds has already been doled out — and almost exclusively on electric buses versus other alternative fuel vehicles. “Instead of following Congress’ directives to effectively provide safe and reliable transportation for American school kids, the Biden-Harris administration rushed money out the door without enough thought or oversight,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.    “This carelessness resulted in 90% of the money going to ‘buy’ electric school buses; yet over 5 years later, there are very few tangible buses to show for it,” Zeldin continued.“In essence, American taxpayer dollars vanished into thin air, and our children were left without school buses.”Under the program guidelines, 50% of the federal money was meant for EV buses while the other half was intended for other types of “clean” transportation methods, like biofuel, liquified natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen or propane vehicles. Of the 2,600 buses (and associated charging infrastructure) ordered, only 60 were propane, according to the EPA, which said “almost all” propane buses have been delivered to school districts. The rest were EV buses. Of those, around 1,100 have been delivered; 854 are behind schedule; and 140 will never be delivered, based on the EPA’s count, which was provided to The Post.At least one manufacturer, Lion Electric, went bankrupt in 2024 after taking $160 million in taxpayer money.Another, Highland Electric, touts receiving more than $150 million Clean School Bus funding but has faced ...