VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

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VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by MotorOmnibus8562 »

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A ... AXxafkfjUA

electric buses into Australia – four e-buses with 2.5m-wide locally made Volgren bodies – as part of its existing 900-bus supply agreement signed in March last year with Western Australia Public Transport Authority (PTA) operator Transperth, the company has announced.

VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021
“We are excited to be partnering with PTA in Perth for our first electric buses in Australia,” said David Mead, vice president Volvo Buses Asia Pacific.
The first of these Perth-bound buses will make its debut to an international audience at the 2021 UITP Global Public Transport Summit, scheduled to be held in June next year at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Volvo explains.

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It is following this event at some stage that this first Volvo-Volgren e-bus and three others like it will make their way to Western Australia to begin necessary integration efforts prior to commencing operation by early 2022 – as expected by both Volvo and the PTA - the organisations confirm.

The March 2019 Volvo-PTA agreement includes provisions for the introduction of alternative-powered vehicles into the Perth public transport bus network when the technology became available in Volvo’s Australian product line, says Volvo.

"We are excited to be partnering with PTA in Perth for our first electric buses in Australia," said David Mead, vice president Volvo Buses Asia Pacific.

"Our relationship with the PTA now spans over a decade and in years to come the city of Perth will indeed be a Volvo city with 100 per cent of the bus fleet being Volvo.

"Volvo’s contract with PTA included a technology roadmap that allowed PTA to access diesel, self-charging electric and battery-electric vehicles over time.

"PTA can access the variety of tools available to them and match the technology to the route and need," Mead explained.

Image

TRIALING NEW TECH
The buses will be operated for the PTA by Swan Transit in Joondalup, Perth’s primary urban centre in the northern suburbs. They will join the existing Central Area Transit System (CAT) in Joondalup, which are zero-fare routes, Volvo explains.

Introducing alternate technologies is nothing new for PTA and Volvo; when Volvo came to market with its hybrid buses in 2013, the two parties conducted a successful trial of the bus in Perth – which not only allowed Volvo to prove the concept, but grow hybrid bus sales across Australia, it says.

"Trialling new, green technology is a great use of our public transport network, already one of the most environmentally friendly ways to get around Perth," said Western Australian Transport Minister Rita Saffioti.

"This is the first time we have trialled electric buses on a CAT route and I’m excited to see what commuters think about this new technology," she said.

7900 Electric Interior Image

BUS MAKE-UP
As Volvo explains, the units will be all-electric 11.7-metre long, 2.5-metre-wide vehicles with local Australian bodies designed and built by Volgren Australia. Whilst these units will be the first of their kind for Volvo in the Asia-Pacific region, the chassis are based on established Volvo technology already implemented in Europe, it states.

"Volvo Buses have long been recognised as a leader in electro-mobility and sustainable public transport," Mead said.

"The Volvo electric driveline has been well proven as the backbone for our complete electric buses in Europe where they have been in operation since 2015. By delivering the product in chassis form, we can work with long-term partners such as Volgren to assemble the bus here in Australia. "It also has allowed us to create new climate options for the vehicle, more suited to Australian conditions" he added.

MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE LAUNCHED (26).png

LONG-TERM PLANNING
While handover of the first electric buses to the PTA is not scheduled until late next year, the planning is well underway, Volvo confirms. Implementing electric vehicles involves many more stakeholders than a traditional bus sale – with Volvo saying the planning for this project started last year.

"This project is about much more than the buses. We have worked with the PTA on a number of areas including simulating the routes to create our charging strategy, charging infrastructure, understanding capital works needs in the depot, training of staff, safety elements, certification and standards compliance. That means we are creating a scalable, end-to-end implementation plan that can be replicated in the future," explained Mead.

The company points out that whilst Volvo has extensive experience in electric buses, full commercialisation of the localised electric bus solution for Australia will not be until 2022.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

I've also mentioned this under General Transport Discussion as I think it's of interest to the national discussion of electric buses on that part of the forum.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by MotorOmnibus8562 »

tonyp wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:02 am I've also mentioned this under General Transport Discussion as I think it's of interest to the national discussion of electric buses on that part of the forum.
I thought that the WA discussion page would be appropriate as it talks about Perth....

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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

MotorOmnibus8562 wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:59 am
I thought that the WA discussion page would be appropriate as it talks about Perth....

Cheers, MO8562
That's fine by me. I made the post in the other section before I saw your post.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

https://www.pta.wa.gov.au/news/media-st ... -cat-route

Thursday, July 2, 2020 / Categories: PTA News
Electric bus trial for Joondalup CAT route

Electric buses will be trialled in Joondalup on a five-kilometre CAT route
Joondalup depot to be modified to include high-voltage EV charging system
McGowan Government awarded $549 million 10-year bus contract to Volvo last year, supporting local jobs
Unprecedented investment in transport infrastructure in the northern suburbs

Commuters on the Joondalup CAT route will travel in style on an electric bus as part of a Western Australian-first trial.

From early 2022, battery-electric buses will operate on the Joondalup CAT service, with a contract to modify the Joondalup bus depot, to include a high-voltage EV charging system, to be awarded in coming months.

The Joondalup CAT route was chosen because its five-kilometre circuit is ideal for the trial operation of an electric bus.

The trial vehicles will be supplied by Volvo through its existing bus supply agreement, with the cost of a Volvo electric bus at the current Transperth specification estimated at $1 million per vehicle.

As part of a new $549 million bus supply contract awarded in March 2019, Volvo Buses, in partnership with Volgren Australia, is supplying 90 buses a year for five years, supporting local jobs and apprenticeships.

The contract includes an option for Volvo to provide alternative technology, such as battery-electric buses which emit fewer greenhouses gases than diesel and natural gas-powered models.

Safety, reliability and efficiency will be among the key considerations examined under the trial.

Minister's office - 6552 5500
$1 million per vehicle - holy smoke! The cheapest trams in Europe don't cost much more than that and a trolleybus is also much less and without the weight issue. I wonder if that cost includes the charging infrastructure averaged out over all the buses? It's a much higher cost than battery-electric buses have come in at so far.

Although electric buses have lower operating costs, the up-front investment and the weight issue (hence compromise on passenger capacity) with battery-electric buses means they need a bit of service justification with high usage. They're not something you'd place on a minor, lightly-used route. I don't know how busy the Joondalup CATs are?
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Bus Suggestions »

Although I agree that a new bus should be tested where it is easy for assistance to be sent when and where needed, little would be gained from this experience. I think that at least one of the buses (there are four, originally there were only 2 Joondalup CATs) should be deployed to Joondalup, Clarkson and Whitfords feeder routes to really test them out in the Australian climate. Potentially, even on a 389.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by 1whoknows »

That's fair comment and indeed it is already being done in the NSW trials where electrics are running on normal inner suburban runs and one has been used on a country rail supplement. The Melbourne one is on a heavily patronised cross suburban run whilst the Qld one is on a semi rural suburban route. So overall there is a variety of experience being tested around the country.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

Perhaps PTA is merely taking cautious baby steps first and they will eventually flow onto other routes.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by 1whoknows »

Assuming the trial is successful I would imagine there would be a new generation of electric CATs next and if that works a more general extension. By the end of the current contract that may well delivering only electrics. In 20 years or so the diesel city bus will probably be as obsolete as a gas producer was after WW2. Of course for rural and coach work diesel is likely to be the main fuel for a long time yet.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

Bus Suggestions wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 8:15 pm Although I agree that a new bus should be tested where it is easy for assistance to be sent when and where needed, little would be gained from this experience. I think that at least one of the buses (there are four, originally there were only 2 Joondalup CATs) should be deployed to Joondalup, Clarkson and Whitfords feeder routes to really test them out in the Australian climate. Potentially, even on a 389.
I just checked the CAT timetable and it seems that only two buses are needed with a third for the ECU loop as required(?). So they should have at least one spare to run another route.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Bus-1809 »

4 = 2x in service and 2x on charge as until on route charging facilities can be set up, range will be an issue for the 7900E's
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

Bus-1809 wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 4:58 pm 4 = 2x in service and 2x on charge as until on route charging facilities can be set up, range will be an issue for the 7900E's
That doesn't sound right. It's about 4.5 km around the Joondalup circuit. That's about the same distance as the Blue Emu service at Sydney Airport where the buses are only charged overnight and run continuously during the day. The buses should be good for maybe 300 km give or take. Certainly no need for en route charging facilities on the Joondalup route. So there's your extra bus for another service plus one spare.

However, your extreme scenario, if true, does highlight the difficulties surrounding the financial justification of these battery buses. $1 million each to buy, then half of them sitting around idle at any one time, all for what I assume is not exactly a heavy-duty route (although I haven't ridden it so I could be wrong). Even with the lower long-term operating costs than diesel, the cost-benefit can't look all that marvellous.

Compare that with a trolley/battery bus with in-motion charging. About 2/3 that cost to buy, admittedly cost of the infrastructure up-front, but then settle down to service with virtually 100% availability, virtually no downtime, high capacity buses (no weight issue), low long-term operating costs. Plus less environmental impact because of far less batteries to manufacture and dispose of.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Off The Rails »

Volvo states the 7900E has a range of 200km, and with there being over 40 trips per day - based on your 4.5km circuit distance, it is at least 220km not including the trip to/from the depot. The NH's didn't do all the trips either, usually replaced by other midi's around midday.

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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

Off The Rails wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:27 pm Volvo states the 7900E has a range of 200km, and with there being over 40 trips per day - based on your 4.5km circuit distance, it is at least 220km not including the trip to/from the depot. The NH's didn't do all the trips either, usually replaced by other midi's around midday.

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With a battery bus, you also need at least 20% of the range in reserve before you finish a roster. You don't want to hope you'll make it back to the depot running on empty at the end, tow trucks cost money! Yes, it looks like the BYDs on the Blue Emu have at least 100 km more range but the interior of their bus has its functionality heavily compromised (and weight increased) to load more batteries on board. The Chinese make big propaganda about range but it comes at a cost which they never mention. The Volvo would be a better, more functional bus but how to make it work on a typical roster is the issue. Everybody seems to think that the battery bus is home and hosed as transport technology but that's far from the case. Transperth is wise to test the waters a little step at a time.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by 1whoknows »

The flash charging concept seems to be the way to go INHO. Not the silly and time wasting at each stop business like Newcastle trams but rather the at terminus version as is used, for example, on Vienna's inner city electric midis. These lay over for about 5 mins between trips and raise their panto to get a top up. Seems to keep them going OK all day.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

The problem is that a lot of these fare-free CBD circulator services don't have a terminus. They just keep going round and round. Otherwise opportunity charging at termini is a logical solution. I can see that the four-bus trial on Joondalup CAT will involve half-day rosters where the buses will be changed over between am and pm. I would imagine that the diesel buses could stay on the run all day.
Last edited by tonyp on Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Merc1107 »

The gas buses on Freo CATs are out all day with only drivers changing, generally. These have practically no downtime between trips whereas Joondalup and Perth CATs may do.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Mr OC Benz »

There's very limited turnaround time on the Joondalup CAT. In fact looking at the latest timetable, looks like they've increased the run time, so now there is basically only one minute between trips. No time for opportunity charging! Drivers/buses change over during the day even with diesel buses as far as I'm aware. The approach they've gone with for the electric buses on Joondalup CAT seems very similar to their approach with route 555 which had four RCCTS liveried CNG buses dedicated to it but only two were needed in service at any time. Obviously this has changed now (the "high profile" livery is now just some decals on the sides of three buses instead of four) but I'm sure there would've been a political impetus for it at the time to have high profile dedicated livery buses on the route at all times, which meant having enough RCCTS liveried spares to cover the route if the two primary buses were off the road.

The local MP has also talked about an expanded Joondalup CAT trial (this has already happened at least once in the past decade...) so the spare buses could be used for that too (but does risk diesel buses having to substitute if all four were scheduled for use at the same time and one of them broke down) but otherwise for the same reasons as the RCCTS, enables the existing Joondalup CAT service to be (hopefully!) reliably operated with a 100% electric fleet with each bus having another spare.

The selection of the Joondalup CAT for the electric buses is also purely a political one. Somewhere like the Perth CAT system would provide a higher profile for technology exposure, however, given they only went through a fleet renewal process three years ago, it will likely be another seven years before there is the appetite to renew the Perth CAT fleet and reshuffle the existing fleet out again. Coincidentally the buses dedicated to the Joondalup CAT were recently withdrawn and so it is perfect timing to renew the fleet and experiment with technology. The Joondalup CAT at least provides a controlled and consistent environment and is in close proximity to Joondalup Depot which ensures a trial could be undertaken with relatively high levels of reliability while satisfying those political requirements.

Unfortunately over the years, layover and turnaround times between services in Perth has shrunk significantly with most timetables built for very tight turnarounds. This would make it challenging to implement electric buses in Perth at a large scale sooner if opportunity charging at termini was not as efficient as using diesel buses.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

It's a very costly experiment for dedicated buses: $4 million worth of buses tied up in it, compared to what would be maybe $2 million worth of conventional buses. The operating cost savings had better add up well!
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Post by TP1462 »

A few other factors that haven’t been taken into consideration the range varies on topography, climate and driving conditions Volvo offers three battery capacities 150, 200 and the beefy 250kW with the 12.0 metre model naturally of course driving in a hot summers or cold winters day with the aircon/heater on would have been an impact on driving range. The 7900 also has dynamic brake energy recuperation where the braking energy is put back into the batteries similar to the B series railcars where the braking energy is put back into the WP grid
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by tonyp »

Dynamic braking is standard on electric buses. Drivers have to be re-indoctrinated that it's actually OK to use the brake as much as possible rather than a retarder!
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tonyp wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:06 pm Dynamic braking is standard on electric buses. Drivers have to be re-indoctrinated that it's actually OK to use the brake as much as possible rather than a retarder!
Yes well aware not just BEV buses but cars too the single pedal operation will take some getting used to for the drivers you don’t really need to apply the brakes apart from conditions that require heavy braking with BEVs it hasn’t been specified which models we’re getting we could the upgraded B5L which is a hybrid electric vehicle however that does still come with a Diesel engine
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Squiddy »

TP1462 wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 12:51 am it hasn’t been specified which models we’re getting we could the upgraded B5L which is a hybrid electric vehicle however that does still come with a Diesel engine
No, it won't be a hybrid.
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Re: VOLVO’S FIRST ELECTRIC BUSES IN AUSTRALIA DUE MID-2021

Post by Merc1107 »

tonyp wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:06 pm Dynamic braking is standard on electric buses. Drivers have to be re-indoctrinated that it's actually OK to use the brake as much as possible rather than a retarder!
Considering the difficulty (or lack of knowledge) some have with the retarder on conventional buses, not sure whether electrics will be any better in this regard. I imagine the same principle applies though, making a gradual (gentle), steady application of the brakes so the regenerative systems can do their thing.
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Post by Bus-1809 »

TP1462 wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 12:51 amYes well aware not just BEV buses but cars too the single pedal operation will take some getting used to for the drivers you don’t really need to apply the brakes apart from conditions that require heavy braking with BEVs it hasn’t been specified which models we’re getting we could the upgraded B5L which is a hybrid electric vehicle however that does still come with a Diesel engine
We're getting 7900E's. That was established some time ago.
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