Lion Electric Schoolie

We told the DMV that we’re in the process of converting the bus into an RV and wanted to get it legally drivable. We explained that the seats had been removed and that it’s now for private use. Since it’s no longer used to transport passengers and isn’t for any commercial purpose, it doesn’t meet the definition of a commercial passenger vehicle. That helped us get it registered as an automobile.
 
This has been a recurring theme for over 15 years, start a green company that in your your heart you know will fail, take advantage of all the go green government subsidies, tax credits, grants, whatever. Pay you and your buddies really really well, buy private jets, etc.. and then when it looks like the farce cannot be sustained, declare bankruptcy and go home a richer person having stolen taxpayer money. There are a lot of very small startups that you never hear about that stole taxpayer money-- it is apparently very easy to do.

We have seen two electric vehicle startup in of all places Tunica Mississippi that had some gas vehicles they would purchase and covert to electric-- maybe run by some Chinese Nationals that got US citizenship by investing so much money, and the place is shuttered now...

Waste on top of waste....
 
Not out of business yet, but in bankruptcy proceedings.

If they don’t manage to restructure, this is a huge concern raised in this CBC article:

School bus operators have expressed concerns that if Lion Electric shuts down, they'll be stuck with a fleet of buses that are impossible to maintain since only the company's mechanics are trained to do that.

Coincidentally, my daughter’s bus wasn’t the usual Lion electric this morning. The driver said it had failed to charge over the weekend; hopefully not a harbinger of things to come!
 
These revelations only further bolster my advocacy against electric vehicles.


I mean, for the people that don't quite understand the engineering reasons why electric vehicles are bad, this kind of nonsense also brings up some more reasons that even dumb people should be able to understand.
 
Not out of business yet, but in bankruptcy proceedings.

If they don’t manage to restructure, this is a huge concern raised in this CBC article:



Coincidentally, my daughter’s bus wasn’t the usual Lion electric this morning. The driver said it had failed to charge over the weekend; hopefully not a harbinger of things to come!

Mine stopped moving—I can’t get it into Drive or Reverse at all. Do you know where we can find more info or troubleshooting steps for this kind of issue?
 
The Chinese will win the electric vehicle wars, maybe not today or tomorrow, but their cost is so much lower than us or the Europeans, or anyone else, that we will never be able to compete on a level playing field. Our government has injected tremendous capital into solar panel, battery, and electric vehicle production in this country, and even with this huge influx of government subsidies, our domestically produced vehicles, solar panels, and batteries are significantly overpriced against the Chinese competitors. Internal combustion vehicles from the Chinese will be a problem in the future. How can everything at Wal-mart, Home Depot and Lowes be made in China, and trucks and cars not be too far behind?
 
The Chinese will win the electric vehicle wars, maybe not today or tomorrow, but their cost is so much lower than us or the Europeans, or anyone else, that we will never be able to compete on a level playing field. Our government has injected tremendous capital into solar panel, battery, and electric vehicle production in this country, and even with this huge influx of government subsidies, our domestically produced vehicles, solar panels, and batteries are significantly overpriced against the Chinese competitors. Internal combustion vehicles from the Chinese will be a problem in the future. How can everything at Wal-mart, Home Depot and Lowes be made in China, and trucks and cars not be too far behind?
The thing with the Chinese is that anything they advertise as reality is always about 20% of that.

Reality is we've experimented with electric and it's mostly not feasible for real world application. If China claims they have it, you can rest assured they do not. I know this because we have not done it. China is always trying to 1up the world but they simply cannot. They don't have the IQ Capital we have here in the States. We design, they steal. They are only king in mass producing from plans we design. That's it. If they have to design something they simply cannot do it.

We will have feasible electric before the chinese, but what will then happen is they will copy and mass produce it cheaper than we can, and only then will what you say will come true.
 
Another one bites the dust---
Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. has received significant tax incentives and other forms of government support, primarily for its lithium-ion battery recycling operations in Rochester, New York. These incentives include a $13.5 million tax credit program and a $475 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. The company also announced a sale of business and assets, including its Rochester Hub facility, in April 2025.

And another big one---
Battery cell maker Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, the company said on Wednesday, marking one of the country's largest corporate failures and effectively ending Europe's best hope of developing a rival to challenge China. "This was a decision we did not take lightly" and it was the only "realistic path forward," Northvolt Chairman Tom Johnstone told a press conference, saying every avenue had been pursued to avoid bankruptcy for the company, which puts 5,000 jobs at risk.
 
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Here are the images!







Progress... I like that you raised the unistrut to let water and dirt run of to the sides. It looks like you are going to use large panels at the full width of the bus. I have had a conversation with a bus owner who had the solar panel glas pulled out of the frame because of the air shockwave of an oncoming 18 wheeler.
My two cents for whatever it is worth.

Good luck,
Johan
 
$475 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Jesus christ, man. This is the kind of thing that drives the public to mistrust alternative energy initiatives. I support spending public funding on worthwhile endeavors, but I think all too often the wrong people seize the opportunity to cash in.

That dude in Canada building diesel-electric logging trucks, though? I'd give that dude half a billi in a second.

 
"Stealing Tesla's idea"

I wrote him a letter telling him I'd be willing to be a first participant of one of his electric drive trains on my bus, and that there is a whole skoolie community waiting to use them.

He replied back saying "Not yet at this time, but we may look into it in the near future. We're focused on perfecting the trucks at the moment but as he understood it the Bus isn't far from the truck chassis, so once we dial it in on the trucks, we may look into buses."

He won't be hit by the Tariffs because he's up in Canada, but to sell them here he would be hit as he is in Canada. All of his electric drive axles come from a Chinese manufacturer.
 
"Stealing Tesla's idea"

I wrote him a letter telling him I'd be willing to be a first participant of one of his electric drive trains on my bus, and that there is a whole skoolie community waiting to use them.

He replied back saying "Not yet at this time, but we may look into it in the near future. We're focused on perfecting the trucks at the moment but as he understood it the Bus isn't far from the truck chassis, so once we dial it in on the trucks, we may look into buses."

He won't be hit by the Tariffs because he's up in Canada, but to sell them here he would be hit as he is in Canada. All of his electric drive axles come from a Chinese manufacturer.

No way man that's awesome! I had this exact thought about how his configuration makes perfect sense for a Skoolie, so that's mad cool that you already got in contact with him. Also not too surprised that he got back to you with a considered answer. Seems like he has a solid head on his shoulders and is coming from a genuine place that most people can relate to.
 

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