AT set for ‘extra-large’ EV buses

Two more electric buses will be rolling into Auckland next year as part of Auckland Transport’s low emissions bus roadmap.

The buses are built by Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer Yutong in partnership with JW Group, and Alexander Dennis in partnership with BYD.

They are expected to hit the streets in August 2020 and will be the first ‘extra-large’ electric buses used in the city. 

The vehicles are the first of their type in the world, especially designed for New Zealand and can carry up to 78 passengers.

Auckland Transport bus services manager Darek Koper says the deal is important in the transition to zero emission buses.

“As we continue our low emissions roadmap, we need to better understand how the buses work and how we are going to power them.

“Using low emission buses will be a big step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality across the city.”

JW Group director Wei Zhou says Yutong and JW Group “are pleased to continue working closely with Auckland Transport to introduce low emission urban buses in Auckland providing extra-large full EV Bus”.

For the past year, a large EV bus has been on loan from Yutong to test the vehicle and requirements for Auckland and its bus operators.

“On one trial, the bus ran from the Airport to Warkworth. The round trip was 184km, with the bus using 41% of its battery capacity and an average power use of 84/kWh for every 100km travelled.

“The results built operational confidence in electric bus fleets,” Zhou says.

Alexander Dennis NZ general manager Tony Moore says he’s “delighted to continue to work with Auckland Transport” and to expand the partnership with BYD to deliver the new three-axle buses.

“This model has been developed specifically for bus operations in New Zealand, offering additional capacity in zero emission vehicles.”

The first six electric buses for Waiheke Island also arrive in the middle of next year from Alexander Dennis and BYD.

As part of the low emissions roadmap Auckland Transport plans to only procure low emission buses from 2025 and have a full low emission fleet by 2040.

Auckland Transport launched its first two electric buses for the City Link service in April 2018. Two more electric buses were put on the Onehunga, Airport and Manukau City Centre route in partnership with Go Bus.