DES MOINES (AP) - Two school buses partially powered by electricity will pick up students in Iowa this fall as part of a pilot project aimed at testing the hybrid engine design.

Nevada and Sigourney school districts were chosen to test the buses.

The leader of the project, Advanced Energy, a nonprofit corporation based in Raleigh, N.C., approved contracts to send 19 buses to Arkansas, California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Iowa.

The 65-passenger yellow school buses headed to Iowa are expected to get 40 percent better fuel mileage and cut emissions by half.

An International V8 diesel engine will power the buses at highway speeds, but an 80-kilowatt hybrid-electric power train - a transmission, batteries and an electric motor - will power the buses in town, capturing the energy of braking during frequent stops to recharge the batteries.

"I do think this is a great idea," said Todd Abrahamson, the superintendent of Sigourney schools, in a statement. "With the high cost of fuel, I see this as a big money saver and something good for our district."

Rich Scott, director of transportation for the Sigourney district, said the hybrid bus will run about 70 miles a day on a route that includes stops in town and in the country.

Scott said he took a hybrid city bus for a test drive last summer.

"It drove really well," he said. "It was a super nice combination."

Researchers at Iowa State University's Center for Transportation Research and Education worked for about two years to bring the buses to Iowa.

Dennis Kroeger, a transportation research specialist at the center, said the buses' performance, fuel efficiency and emissions will be monitored.

"This is a perfect application for this technology. Buses operate at low speeds. There's a lot of stop-and-go driving. And so it makes sense to use a lot of these buses," Kroeger said in a statement. "I think there is a market for this."

Hybrid electric school buses cost about $200,000, but Nevada and Sigourney school officials agreed to pay the price of a standard new bus - about $60,000.

Kroeger said he has obtained grants to pay for the additional costs of the buses and for studies of their performance, including $194,000 from the Iowa Energy Center, $120,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and $83,000 from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the School Administrators of Iowa.

The buses will be built by Conway, Ark.-based IC Corp., a subsidiary of International Truck and Engine Corp. The buses are equipped with an Enova Systems Inc. hybrid electric drive train.

Torrence, Calif.-based Enova develops, designs and produces drive systems and related components for electric, hybrid-electric, fuel cell and microturbine powered vehicles.