State Launches Electric School Bus Pilot, Central Consolidated Included
New Mexico's Economic Development Department and GreenPower Motor Co. announced a two year all electric school bus pilot that will include Central Consolidated School District, with a pilot bus scheduled to arrive in December. The program matters for local families because it will test vehicle range, charging needs and maintenance in rural conditions while using state capital outlay dollars to fund buses and chargers.
On November 28, 2025 state officials and vehicle manufacturer GreenPower Motor Co. unveiled a rotating pilot program that will place an electric school bus in Central Consolidated School District as part of a broader effort across New Mexico. The two year pilot will move buses through five pilot rounds each school year so multiple districts can test performance under real world conditions, and state capital outlay dollars will fund several buses and associated charging infrastructure.
The pilot is designed to evaluate range, charging behavior and maintenance needs in varied conditions. GreenPower will install charging equipment at participating sites, provide training for drivers and mechanics, and monitor vehicle performance through telematics systems. The company will also deliver the collected data to the state for program reporting and evaluation.
District leaders expressed caution about how rural operating conditions could affect electric bus performance. Concerns raised included dirt roads, the additional weight of battery packs reducing range, and cold weather impacts on charging and travel distance. These factors informed district preparation steps, which include planning charging locations, coordinating site upgrades, training staff and adjusting routing to account for range variability.
For San Juan County residents the pilot offers both potential benefits and short term trade offs. Funding from state capital outlay dollars reduces upfront local costs for equipment, yet rotating buses means full fleet replacement is not part of the pilot and districts will need to manage mixed fleets for the trial period. Data gathered from telematics and state reporting will be critical for assessing long term operating costs, infrastructure needs and equity of service for remote routes.
Institutionally the program places the Economic Development Department in a central coordinating role, and GreenPower as both equipment supplier and data manager. How the state uses pilot results will shape future capital budgets and decisions about wider adoption. For now Central Consolidated and other rural districts will use the coming months to prepare sites and staff, and to weigh the practical trade offs of electrifying school transportation in a region with long routes and challenging road and weather conditions.
