Saskatoon is likely several years down the road from converting its entire fleet of buses over to ones that are electric, although the City will be acquiring one electric from a bus manufacturer for a one-year loan.

Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit says the one-year loan is part of a pilot project that will see how electric buses handle each season in the city along with the terrain. McDonald expects the bus will be on the streets of Saskatoon by the end of April or early-May.

The pilot won’t require the City to install any additional charging stations besides the one at the Civic Operations Centre as the battery that’s installed in the bus is meant to last an entire shift or 450 miles.

Last week, the City’s finance committee reviewed a report on the pilot which is expected to cost $468,600 dollars. The City will cover $169,300 with the rest of the funds being covered by the Saskatchewan Research Council and the Green Municipal Fund.

Since Saskatoon doesn’t have as many hills compared to cities like Edmonton, McDonald feels there won’t be many issues with areas that may put extra drain on the battery.

The project is expected to prevent 50.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

McDonald says the City typically buys 10 buses every year, although if the pilot is successful and the City shows interest in converting the entire fleet, it could take a while.

“It’s $1.2 million per bus so that will, you know unless I get a different kind of allocation or unless the prices come down, it’s going to be a while before we can completely replace the fleet with battery buses.”

If the entire fleet is converted to electric, it’s expected that the carbon dioxide reduction would be 5,130 tonnes every year.