One of the four Lion Electric Co. buses owned by Winthrop Public Schools, photographed Jan. 15. The buses show wear and other issues consistent with older vehicles, according to the Maine State Police. “It was all off-the-shelf parts cobbled together with Lion’s prototype-grade wiring harness,” Will Doucette, a technician hired by Lion Electric to service its buses in Maine, says. “Even the 12-volt systems were seriously problematic.” Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Will Doucette spent his workdays driving across Maine to fix buses from Lion Electric Co.

Air compressor failures, coolant and windshield leaks and anti-lock braking system warnings were among the problems Doucette saw regularly as the sole Maine technician hired by the company to fix the frequently broken-down buses, which were sent to several Maine school districts as part of a program to lower vehicle emissions and improve student health.

Doucette’s experience, which ended when he quit after four months, provides insight into why the buses have had so much trouble staying on the road.

“It was more like a science project than a validated, road-legal vehicle,” Doucette said.

On a regular basis, Doucette, hired in late 2023, drove from his home in Knox County to Yarmouth, Mount Desert Island, Topsfield, Waite and elsewhere in an attempt to repair the buses.

The problems he saw were unlike anything he had fixed during a long career servicing vehicles of all kinds, including extensive work on electric vehicles, or EVs.

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In February 2024, Doucette reported the problems to the Maine State Police and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which oversees the safety of commercial motor vehicles within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The electric buses were temporarily taken off the roads at about the same time, after the transportation director for the Winthrop Public Schools was forced to steer an electric bus into a snowbank after a power failure during a test run.

Two weeks later, the buses were allowed back onto the road, ready to transport students.

By that time, however, school officials had little confidence in the buses, and have largely kept them parked, even when they were not shut down for maintenance.

“I simply cannot sleep at night knowing our students are in danger,” Mandy Belanger, superintendent of the Baileyville-area schools, wrote in an Oct. 20, 2024, email to state education officials. 

Lion Electric Co. recruited Doucette, who said he had worked as an early member of the Tesla service team, a BMW technician and, most recently, a trainer and an expert on EV matters for Chevrolet, for which he works in Bangor.

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The problems with Lion Electric buses began as soon as Doucette looked under the hood of one of the vehicles. The batteries were BMW i3 electric batteries, he said, and certain parts were held together with zip ties.

“It was all off-the-shelf parts cobbled together with Lion’s prototype-grade wiring harness,” he said. “Even the 12-volt systems were seriously problematic.”

The company also did not provide Doucette with the correct tools to fix an electric vehicle, he said.

“I went to Yarmouth on my first day and the tools they provided were a (expletive) joke,” he said. “Whoever came up with the list of tools never worked with vehicles, let alone electric vehicles with air brakes.”

The Lion Electric buses were supplied through the federal and state Clean School Bus Programs, which provide federal grants to school districts for purchasing electric buses, provided the district gives up a diesel bus and agrees to use the EV bus to transport students.

Some districts bought buses from Lion Electric, while others went with other companies.

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Records show the first documented problems with the Lion Electric buses about a year before Doucette was hired.

A letter written by Commissioner Pender Makin of the Maine Department of Education reported that of the 30 school districts in Maine that received electric school buses, only buses from Lion Electric Co. had problems so extensive that the districts were unable to use the vehicles.

“They are like Jenga towers,” Doucette said. “You work on one thing and (it) just breaks while you are working on it.” 

Doucette soon quit his job with Lion Electric Co., feeling he could not continue to work on buses that he felt put students at risk.

But before he left the company, he shared his concerns with the state police, who inspect school buses, and with federal regulators.

“The folks with the Maine State Police said, ‘We will keep inspecting them until they fail,'” Doucette said.

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In February 2024, about the time Doucette quit, the Maine Department of Education urged schools to take Lion Electric buses off the road until they could be inspected.

School buses are inspected by the Maine State Police’s Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit, and must be in compliance with state and federal guidelines. If a bus fails its annual inspection, repairs must be completed before it can be inspected again, according to Maj. Jason King.

Officials said a school bus can continue to be used, even if found to have a defect not considered severe. If deemed unsafe, the bus is ordered out of service until the defect is repaired. 

King said in January 2024 that the problems with Lion Electric Co. buses were not consistent with new vehicles. The buses arrived at schools with less than 10,000 miles on their odometers, yet King said he saw loose body rivets, no wheel chocks, a power steering hose rubbing on brackets and rear emergency doors that did not work properly on several of them.

“These types of defects found are usually not on a brand-new school bus, but are issues that might be noted during an inspection of seasoned school bus while in service,” he said. 

Lion Electric Co. said it hired a new, Maine-based technician in October 2024, but school districts said they still have outstanding problems with their buses. They said they not heard from Lion Electric, other than a Jan. 16 newsletter detailing services after the company filed for creditor protection in Quebec, a process similar to bankruptcy protection in the United States.

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In response to reported concerns about and problems with Lion Electric school buses, spokesperson Marie-Eve LaBranche said the company “always” installs new batteries.

“We install new battery packs during production of new vehicles, as well as for vehicle in-service and (those) needing repairs,” she said.

Despite the problems Doucette experienced with Lion Electric Co. buses, he said he is not discouraged about the future of electric transportation.

“I believe electric vehicles are the future and critical to preserving the quality of life we enjoy for our children,” he said, “but Lion products unfortunately aren’t a part of the solution.”

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