[stephen_g]

That seems like a false dilemma. Busses have a life cycle, so need replacement every so often already anyway. Over the life cycle electric busses shouldn't be more expensive than ICE ones (electric have higher capital cost at the moment but lower operating costs due to fuel).

So it's unlikely there's a valid case to be made that the cost of electric busses would be preventing expansion of public transport.

[Gibbon1]

When I looked at buses, found that school districts and other operators can get vendor financing at very low rates. So usually they are financed. Which means the capital cost ends up being a flat monthly payment.

Which means operators only care about annual operating, insurance, maintenance, and finance costs. The total is important[1] not the relative amounts. If electric buses are cheaper on an annual basis and can handle the route, those guys will buy them. (Accountants are going to accountant)

[1] The opposite of people who buy personal cars who focus exclusively on capital + finance costs and ignore insurance, operating and maintenance costs.