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Golden Arrow rolls out electric bus pilot study

30th April 2021

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS), in Cape Town, has started testing two fully electric buses in an effort to determine the viability of introducing the technology to its fleet, says GABS company engineer Gideon Neethling.

The tests will continue until January next year.

The buses are from Chinese manufacturer BYD.

The project is partly funded by the uYilo eMobility Programme’s Kick Start Fund.

One of the bus is being tested without passengers, while the other is loaded with sandbags, equivalent to 44 passengers in weight.

“It is good for us to get the energy consumption of an empty vehicle versus a bus that carries 44 passengers,” says Neethling.

Current planning is to introduce the buses to passengers on June 1, he adds.

Next year may also see the expansion of the study to include a 65-seater bus, which is closer to the specification currently used by GABS.

“At the moment, we have a real promising start, but it is too early to publish results. All results will be made available, also via uYilo, between now and February.”

Neethling says the aim of the tests is to replace estimated variables with real figures.

“We have a saying at Golden Arrow that a spreadsheet is forgiving, and we want to move away from that.

“We want to put in real figures and see what the answer is to the real feasibility of electric buses.”

Neethling says part of the study is also aimed at looking at the challenges around charging.

“This can become an interesting scheduling exercise if you ramp up electric buses in a fleet like ours. A thousand buses to be charged is quite an interesting challenge.”

The study is also looking at the maintenance skills required, with a small team currently being trained to look after the two electric buses.

Following the electric bus pilot study, the aim is to expand the programme so that GABS can have a final answer on the feasibility of electric buses around 2023.

“The elephant in the room is capital cost and a close second is battery life. These two things scare people the most about electric vehicles (EVs),” says Neethling.

“Then there is energy cost per kilometre and maintenance costs.

“Once we have a feel for these four things, it will put us in a strong position to say yes or no to electric buses.”

When considering the bigger picture and the possible future of electric buses in South Africa, Neethling says government would need to reduce the import duties on EVs as it is currently more expensive to import an EV than a vehicle with an internal combustion engine.

There should also be incentives for EV purchases in the short term, and incentives for local EV manufacturing in the long term.

It should also possibly reduce the licence fees for EVs, and/or have a scheme where only EVs can enter city centres.

“We think the move to EVs is going to be fast – substantially faster than we can picture – and, in our mind, it is important that we keep up,” says Neethling.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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