The Department of Transport has announced that its first battery-electric bus has entered the local public service in Joondalup.
Powered by lithium-ion batteries with minimal greenhouse gas emissions, the Capital Area Transit (CAT) bus is the first of four electric vehicles to be rolled out onto the Joondalup route as part of a trial.
The Department said the cleaner, greener technology would be evaluated on a range of factors including safety, reliability, efficiency, performance, downtime, emissions reductions, life-cycle costs and risks.
“Its adaptability to Perth’s climate and road network are among the primary considerations,” the Department said.
“As part of the rollout, modifications have also been made to the Joondalup bus depot.”
It said they included the installation of a high-voltage electric vehicle charging system which would allow the electric buses to be recharged at the depot, and a 100-kilowatt solar power array connected to a large on-site battery storage system.
“The four electric buses are being delivered under the Public Transport Authority’s existing bus supply contract with Volvo, with the company committed to local production in Western Australia for any further orders should the trial be successful,” the Department said.
Minister for Transport, Rita Saffioti said the CAT buses would be hard to miss with their eye-catching bright red livery.
“Internally, they look similar to other Transperth buses on the network but with one significant difference — their battery-electric technology makes them cleaner and greener, with minimal greenhouse gas emissions,” Ms Saffioti said.
“We will use this trial to evaluate a wide range of factors into the technology, as we are keen to supply more of these buses and to make them here in WA.”
