Canberra launches electric bus fleet
Twelve electric buses will be joining the fleet in the Australian capital Canberra this year. In addition, a tender for another 90 electric buses will be launched, which will run until the beginning of March.
Of the first twelve electric buses, eight will be built by the Chinese manufacturer Yutong and four by the Australian manufacturer Custom Denning, according to the government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). An interesting detail: the Custom Denning buses are to have solid-state batteries. However, the ACT does not give any further details in the announcement. Yutong’s bus is the E12, a twelve-metre long solo bus.
For Canberra, these are the first electric buses. The ACT had made the decision to procure the first e-buses at the end of 2020. The goal is for the capital’s entire bus fleet to be all-electric by 2040. “The first 12 battery-electric buses, combined with the purchase of a further 90 electric buses, puts us on track to move to an all-electric bus fleet by 2040 or sooner,” says Chris Steel, Minister for Transport and City Services.
But plans have changed since the announcement: in 2020, the procurement of 90 electric buses was planned. Later, the ACT government decided to initially lease eight battery buses. But this decision was also adjusted: Now the mentioned twelve electric buses will be leased and the tender for the purchase of the 90 vehicles has been initiated.
The registration process for this tender has now been started: Interested manufacturers can still register until 8 March to participate in the further tender process.
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