Electric bus trial begins in Auckland and Wellington

NZ Bus began trialling its new BYD eBus in Auckland and Wellington this week as part of its strategy to lead the transition to electric-powered public transport.

“The trial will enable the company to assess whether this fully electric bus, can meet the challenges of New Zealand’s landscape and the specific requirements of bus networks in Auckland and Wellington,” says NZ Bus chief executive Zane Fulljames.

“We are committed to leading the industry towards an electric-powered bus fleet, as was reflected in our announcement last year to invest NZ$43m in Wrightspeed electric powertrain technology to be retrofitted to buses in our existing fleet,” says Fulljames.

“Trialling BYD eBus technology is about looking at options for the future regarding our ongoing fleet replacement programme,” he says.

The makers of the eBus, BYD Company Limited, operate across six continents, 48 countries and regions, and 200 cities. BYD are the suppliers of the largest electric bus fleet in Europe and are in fleets across Canada, USA, Chile, China, Singapore and Australia.

The New Zealand trial is expected to last up to three months.

The BYD eBus may not attract attention given that it looks much like a conventional diesel or diesel hybrid bus, but people might notice that it is significantly quieter according to NZ Bus.

In parallel with the BYD eBus trial, NZ Bus says it is also well underway in the process of retrofitting Wrightspeed electric powertrains to its existing bus fleet at its workshop in Wellington.