The wheels on Daimler's new bus go round and round, thanks to electricity

Fleets of school buses shuttle American students to class five days a week, nine months a year, pumping out diesel fumes as they roll along — but now, thanks to one of the biggest automakers in the world, more of those big yellow rigs are going green.

German auto conglomerate Daimler unveiled its first all-electric school bus, which will be made by its North American Thomas Built Buses subsidiary. The Saf-T-Liner C2, also dubbed "Jouley" after the unit of energy, is slated to hit the roads across U.S. school districts in 2019.

Jouley doesn't look much different from other school buses, with the capacity to haul 81 students per trip, but it's what's inside that counts. The rig's 160kWh battery provides a range of up to 100 miles per charge, and Daimler says that the bus can be equipped with an extra battery pack for more mileage.

Jouley buses have an estimated charge time of eight hours, and Daimler claims the vehicle's performance is on par with more traditional diesel-powered rigs. There are also built-in safety features like telematics and diagnostics systems to track the buses' locations for real-time monitoring.

Jouley isn't the first all-electric school bus design; smaller competitors like Blue Bird and Lion have also shown off big yellow e-buses recently. Having a massive entity like Daimler behind the tech, however, could help to bring Jouley to more school districts, as Thomas Built Buses will have access to the parent company's burgeoning EV development initiatives.

Daimler is pushing into electric vehicles in a big way, especially with larger vehicles. The auto giant's trucks and bus division recently showed off plans to produce heavy duty, battery-powered vehicles with a new brand, E-FUSO, and pledged to invest about $10 billion in "next-gen EV" initiatives after prodding by Elon Musk.

Automakers on the whole are embracing electrification. Multiple countries have outlined plans to ban diesel- and gas-powered car sales within the next few decades, so all forms of transport that depend on combustion engines are in line for conversion. Jouley gives the school bus a brand new charge — but kids riding e-buses will still need to sit down and shut up while the driver is concentrating on the roads.