In Brisbane, a Metro (bus) that’s hauling three carriages can pull up under a wireless charging station and recharge in six minutes flat.
Bigger buses that drive many more kilometres can take up to a full 20 minutes to charge up. The technology they’re using is called a pantograph – meaning the charging is overhead and wireless. But even bigger units take just over 40 minutes to charge up.
This is the world of bus transport that’s emerging, some of which we covered in the recent Brisbane bus and coach exhibition.
Among the main users of pantograph fast charging is Nexport, and HESS, which designed the Brisbane Metro.
Yutong, a Chinese bus company that recently sold a fleet of 90 electric buses to the ACT government, also uses the pantograph charger.
It also uses new generation batteries that have bigger storage capacity, meaning buses are now lighter with nine interconnected batteries powering the bus, rather than 10.
A pantograph charger could charge the company’s bigger 44 seater bus from zero to 80 per cent in 42 minutes – assuming the bus has no remaining battery charge.
Manufacturers of the pantograph charger with notable stakes in the market include Swiss electrification consultants ABB and German manufacturer Siemens.
So, what’s behind the charging speed of the system? Contrary to popular belief, electric buses are designed with weight reduction in mind, and because the Metro only goes a short distance between charge stations, topping up can be quick.
Next is battery and safety
Yutong is also big in EV safety technology. It’s a new fire suppression system that involves flooding the battery chamber with nitrogen if the battery catches fire.
Which, the company claims, was unlikely as its buses were equipped with its proprietary early detection software, real time battery monitoring, thermal liquid cooling and a battery protector that can withstand up to 1300 degrees.
The bus itself is designed to keep batteries safe from igniting on impact, but the company takes it a step further and uses tensile strength steel of its chassis to minimise the impact on its passengers.
The buses also use lithium phosphate batteries manufactured by CATL, one of the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery manufacturers.
The batteries are made to resist high temperature climates up to 55 degrees Celsius and well below freezing temperatures, to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
But is this technology affordable?
All this technology comes at a price, with the company’s luxury coaches coming in at $748,000 and its latest E7S small community bus estimated by industry experts to cost around $400,000.
VDI Australia says the small model was an “on-demand” transport designed for the urban sprawl and cities that can connect commuters to main transport hubs in a way traditional fixed route systems can’t.
The buses are built with DRT, a computer system that builds flexible routing based on passengers’ schedules and locations and efficiently coordinates pickups and drop-offs.
Buses with similar systems are already on trial in parts of Sydney and NSW, although consumer feedback on the system remains mixed.
But why the demand in Australia?
The backdrop is that when it comes to decarbonising transport, governments are starting to implement strong policies The New South Wales government looks to be in the lead with a fleet of more than 100 electric buses in operation now and a goal to electrify its fleet of more than 8000 buses. Ambitions are to be completely electric in greater Sydney by 2035, outer metropolitan regions by 2040, and regional NSW by 2047.
Queensland follows closely behind, saying all its ageing diesel buses will be swapped out for zero emission counterparts starting 2025, with the Brisbane City Council flagging electrification further ambitions ahead of the Brisbane Games of 2032. Even Adelaide had introduced its first electric bus l in December last year.
See the full table by the National Transport Commission from September 2023 here: NTC – Electric Bus Evaluation.pdf.
While client names are still under wraps, it’s understood that VDI already has two Australian clients interested in buying the new community sized model.
In China, some of these are already driverless and used on university campuses, for community groups and in mining transportation.
Great to see bus electrification happening! It seems like a slow rollout, but at least they are starting.
Why not start doing regional areas sooner too?