KENNEBEC JOURNAL • February 17, 2025
A representative from the Environmental Protection Agency visited Winthrop schools in late January as part of an investigation into Lion Electric Co.’s electric buses. The four electric buses Winthrop has received from Lion have been plagued with problems since they arrived in Winthrop in late 2023. Lion Electric Co., a Quebec-based company that recently filed for credit protection, was the first to provide Maine with electric buses through a federal program designed to replace diesel buses with no-emission electric vehicles. In all, 30 school districts across Maine received a total of 72 electric buses through the EPA-run program. However, the Lion Electric buses, which now have been sent to nine of the districts, are the only buses to consistently have problems.