School Buses Are Going Electric, but Not Too Fast Blue Bird receives 300th electric school bus order as districts look to become greener. School bus maker now offers 3 different EV bus models School buses only need a range of about 100 miles per 24-hour period If there is one iconic American vehicle needing to become an EV as soon as possible, it's the school bus. Best known for using the same styling for decades and for belching out thick clouds of diesel exhaust into cars behind them, like tanks deploying smoke screens, school buses can at times be smelled from hundreds of yards away. But they have largely avoided any kind of regulatory wrath when it comes to air quality.