Victoria’s first locally built, fully electric bus has started operating on Route 903 as part of a trial between Transdev Melbourne and the Department of Transport.
Phase three of the trial, which will see the electric bus operate on an 86km route between Altona and Mordialloc, will gather valuable data about how the bus performs in a variety of different traffic conditions.
Route 903 is known as an orbital route; allowing passengers in Melbourne’s middle and outer suburbs to travel across the city without travelling into the CBD. The orbital routes are among the longest bus routes in the southern hemisphere.
The bus will be based at Transdev’s North Fitzroy depot where a charging station has been installed.
Initially the bus began opertion on Route 246 between Elsternwick and Clifton Hill and phase 2 of the trial saw the bus operate on Route 251 between CBD and Northland Shopping Centre.
It has a carrying capacity of 61 passengers and a range of around 300km in general operating conditions. It’s fitted with 324kWh of battery capacity and takes between four to five hours to fully charge.
It features a low floor, intelligent early detection collision avoidance systems and USB charging ports.
Transdev Melbourne interim manager Rachel Spencer says the company is “committed to identifying cleaner transport options which have a positive impact on environment and local communities”.
“This trial is demonstrating the benefits of zero emission buses and providing valuable data about how this technology can be scaled up to operate zero emission bus fleets.”
Recently, the Victorian Government announced from 2025 all new public transport bus purchases will be zero emission buses. The data gathered during this trial will be useful for the development of future bus fleet procurement strategies as the state moves towards reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector.
The electric bus was built by Volgren in Dandenong, supporting local jobs and manufacturing. Up to 87% of content used in Volgren buses is local with the manufacturing process sourcing parts from approximately 80 local suppliers.
In March this year, Transdev took delivery of four new electric buses which have been delivered to Transdev operations in New South Wales and Queensland.
The Victorian trial will continue until October 31, 2021.
