California’s 100% Electric School Bus Mandate, and Lease Term Extensions

In September 2023, California passed a law requiring that 100% of all newly purchased or contracted school buses be zero-emission vehicles, where feasible, by 2035. The law also solves a common hurdle in the financing of these buses by school districts, allowing lease, rental, and rent-to-own agreements to extend to terms between 15 and 20 years, which provides a more reasonable term for these expensive assets than the 5 to 10 year restrictions that had been in place (and which remain a model in much of the country).