Victoria’s first all-electric bus depot is to be powered up in the coming weeks providing a base for the State’s expanding fleet of electric buses.
Welcoming progress on the Ivanhoe depot, the Minister for Public Transport, Ben Carroll said the depot, in Melbourne’s north-east, was set to become home to the largest fleet of locally made zero emission electric buses in the State.
Mr Carroll said the depot was part of Victoria’s Zero Emissions Bus (ZEB) Trial which would inform the transition of around 4,000 diesel buses in the State’s public fleet, including around 2,200 in regional Victoria, to zero emissions.
“From 2025, all new buses on Victoria’s public transport routes will be zero emissions,” Mr Carroll said.
“The new zero emission buses will operate on nine northern suburbs routes including to La Trobe University, Gowrie Station and Northland Shopping Centre,” he said.
“Works to convert the Ivanhoe depot continue and include the installation of a new transformer on site and 14 chargers.”
Mr Carroll said that by early 2024, the depot would be home to 27 battery electric buses, transporting up to 10,000 people each week and covering more than 1.2 million kilometres a year in and around the northern suburbs.
