Lion Bus

Autobus Lion (2011-2017)

The first school bus manufacturer founded in North America in the 21st century, Autobus Lion/Lion Bus is also the first manufacturer of full-size school buses in Canada since the closure of Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil in 2007. Lion Bus was created in 2008 by former Corbeil executives Marc Bédard and Camile Chartrand (serving as Lion President and COO, respectively).^[3]

In 2011, the company introduced its first bus, the 360°, a cowled-chassis (conventional style) school bus, produced in a partnership with Spartan Chassis, Inc.^[4] In contrast to other manufacturers of full-size buses, the 360 was offered by itself, to streamline production costs.

La Compagnie Électrique Lion (2017-present)

In June 2017, Lion Bus rebranded itself as the Lion Electric Company.^[5] As part of the transition, the company announced the development of a second bus design, a flat-floor fully electric minibus for school and transit applications. the "ElionM" for transit as well as a fully electric Type D School bus. The "eLionA". ^[5] In addition, Lion announced the development of fully electric trucks, in Class 5 through Class 8 trucks, with a planned launch in fall 2018. as well as a new Fully Electric Type A school bus. called the "eLionN". ^[5] In the summer of 2018 Lion established a base of operations in central California. ^[5]

Lion 360

Launched in 2011, the Lion Bus 360° is a cowled-chassis (conventional) bus sold as either a school bus, MFSAB (activity bus), or a commercial-use bus. As with the Blue Bird Vision, the 360 does not use a chassis and hood of a production medium-duty truck, instead having a proprietary chassis developed for the bus by Spartan Chassis (a subsidiary of Spartan Motors, former parent company of Carpenter). Though few body configurations were initially offered (to streamline production), the 360 was offered with options such as wheelchair lifts or underfloor luggage compartments.

In its development, several features of the 360 focused on lengthening the service life of school buses. In the interest of corrosion resistance, the body does not use steel exterior panels, consisting of composite body panels, with the lower bodywork using TPO panels.^[6] In a break from school bus design precedent, the 360 is produced with a 102-inch wide body (rather than 96 inches); the change was intended for either wider center aisles or to better accommodate 3-point seatbelts.^[7]

In May 2015, Lion unveiled a CNG-fueled variant of the 360, becoming the first manufacturer to produce a Type C school bus powered by a CNG-fueled engine. Powered by a NGV Motori version of the International DT466 engine^[8], it is unclear how many were produced.

Lion eLion

Launched in 2015, the eLion is a fully electric vehicle, sharing its body and Spartan chassis with the 360. In place of the Cummins diesel, a 250kW TM4 SUMO MD electric motor is used along with LG lithium-ion batteries.^[6] The eLion is externally distinguished from the 360 by its colored bumpers, which are either painted blue or green.^[6]