Also, they produce less soot, nox and carbon monoxide for the kids to breathe.

Quebec already has electric city buses built in partnership with Novabus and Hydro-Quebec, they are pretty widespread in Montreal.

This is something else, a startup that I've only ever seen schoolbuses from.

They're also more expensive, so cities buy fewer of them, leading to more cars on the road, worsening the problem

Only more expensive in terms of the initial purchase price. Maintenance and energy costs are much lower than for a gasoline bus.

Until you have to change the battery a few years later and it’s cheaper to buy a new bus.

Actually, this is an interesting point.

Batteries tend to have a max charge/discharge cycle. Unlike a consumer car, buses see a lot more distance. I wonder how much more quickly the batteries go.

The lithium doesn't escape from a battery like it does from a gas tank.

I would expect a large scale operator to recover a lot of money from the sale of those rare earth minerals.

Large or small operator, the recovery amount will be a tiny fraction of the overall battery pack cost. Recycling isn't free, and costs, and assemble + profit margins at both ends.

In short, you're diverting "how often" to "meh, who cares, they're recyclable", without any validation that it negates the cost.

AIUI, as EV fleets age, we're learning that it's the depth of charge and discharge that degrades batteries, not the total power throughput. Staying within 20% and 80% makes most of the difference to longevity. Additionally, they seem to degrade to about 80% of original capacity and then plateau, and are generally lasting much longer than initially expected.

This isn't true:

> Our results indicate that today's electrified bus fleets are roughly cost comparable to their traditional diesel counterparts

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X2...

Even if they cost a bit more, they are more reliable, better for the environment and air quality, and are so much quieter.

The best thing about EBs is, they do not hum and vibrate so much making it feel like the bus is about to transform into some Decepticon bot any minute now.