Various electric buses at TSA.

[Stu]

There is due to be a media release soon in regards to the electric buses built by Gemilang Australia in Region 6.

[Tongans101]

The is due to be a media release soon in regards to the electric buses in Region 6.

Just happened.

[Tongans101]

Press conference has just taken place for the 4 Electric buses designed by Gemilang Australia, built at the Gemilang International factory on BYD K9 chassis.

[swtt]

Looking like a new generation gas bus!

[rogf24]

I wonder if the new electric buses will replace the old Citaro CNG buses? And also an early retirement for the O500LE buses and rip out the CNG infrastructure?

[jpp42]

Any press releases? These are battery buses?

[moa999]

Commence 1 July. 2 year trial according to
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-a ... ement-as-1

(Although it's undated, so possibly from the January prr-election announcement)

[tonyp]

Any photos of nearside and interior appreciated.

[rogf24]

Also, does anyone know if these buses will run on specific runs or will it be randomly assigned? If the former, what runs and what times and places?

[Stu]

Commence 1 July. 2 year trial according to
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/data-a ... ement-as-1

(Although it's undated, so possibly from the January prr-election announcement)

The original Region 6 contract document that was available in July last year had info about the electric bus trial. This sabe document was updated earlier this year to exist in the public domain as a heavily redacted version.
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system ... C-6-V1.pdf

Each bus will need to travel at least 50,000 km and will be almost exclusively on route 470.

[Daniel]

Any photos of nearside and interior appreciated.

Standard low entry, flat floor and then 3 steps up behind the centre door.

[tonyp]

Standard low entry, flat floor and then 3 steps up behind the centre door.

Thank you. I'm already aware of that. I'm curious to see how it looks compared to the original Carbridge ones.

[boronia]

According to Ch 9 tonight they will be on 431 and 470.

[Tongans101]

Standard low entry, flat floor and then 3 steps up behind the centre door.

Thank you. I'm already aware of that. I'm curious to see how it looks compared to the original Carbridge ones.

3 smaller steps at the rear 227mm

[Tongans101]

Channel 7 reported they are Chinese built. They are in fact modified Chinese chassis with an Australian designed, Malaysian built Aluminium body.

[moa999]

9News... Obviously didn't get a camera man out there
https://twitter.com/9NewsSyd/status/114 ... 37152?s=19

[moa999]

Got a couple of screen shots from the 7News bulletin on 7Plus (from about 17min to go). Buses have a 350km range on full charge.

Shame they couldn't do more than a little decal above the door to denote they are electric

[tonyp]

Got a couple of screen shots from the 7News bulletin on 7Plus (from about 17min to go). Buses have a 350km range on full charge.

Shame they couldn't do more than a little decal above the door to denote they are electric.

If they're anything like the Carbridge ones, the passengers will think they're in a diesel anyway from the motor noise. The Yutong is much quieter inside. An electric bus is supposed to be quiet inside and out. Give it a period of time (and keep a firm hold!) for drivers to master the subtleties of the braking too.

Thanks for the efforts on the photos. There wouldn't be a clear shot of the whole nearside by any chance? They really do a poor show on supplying images at these bus releases nowadays. No wonder the media resort to publishing a generic photo of a bus.

[moa999]

Pulled a few more shots..
Tag line is
"Breathe easy.. you're on a zero emissions bus"

Also on 433 Balmain-Central according to 7.

From the pics looks like it's charged by 2x 22kW 5-pin chargers, nowhere near Tesla (latest model 3 can do 250kW at the Superchargers)

[Tongans101]

From the pics looks like it's charged by 2x 22kW 5-pin chargers, nowhere near Tesla (latest model 3 can do 250kW at the Superchargers)

Wrong. They are 2x 40kw chargers with css plugs. 3-4 hour charge depending on SOC in the battery. Totally different chemistry to a Tesla battery so you are comparing apples with oranges.

[Tongans101]

If they're anything like the Carbridge ones, the passengers will think they're in a diesel anyway from the motor noise. The Yutong is much quieter

Tony, there are no rules about how quiet an electric bus is supposed to be. The idea is that they have no tail pipe emissions therefore making our city's cleaner. It's actually dangerous to have a too quiet bus especially in this age of people staring down at their phones while crossing the road!!

[Tongans101]

Just for Tonyp

[tonyp]

Just for Tonyp

Thank you! Made my day

I like the fact that the centre door is positioned as far back as possible.

Tony, there are no rules about how quiet an electric bus is supposed to be. The idea is that they have no tail pipe emissions therefore making our city's cleaner. It's actually dangerous to have a too quiet bus especially in this age of people staring down at their phones while crossing the road!!

I was referring to internal noise. Electric buses are downright treacherous on the outside! There was a reason that trolleybuses were referred to as "the silent death".

[Merc1107]

Give it a period of time (and keep a firm hold!) for drivers to master the subtleties of the braking too.

That's a very optimistic expectation! The nuances of prototypes/demonstrators or small sub-fleets rarely win the affection of drivers (excluding enthusiasts). Until electric vehicles become the majority in fleets, it should be expected they will be driven like a diesel or gas bus, and they should perform the same as those vehicles. Setting aside special routes, with a select few drivers (is that going to happen?) trained to treat the vehicle with kid gloves is like wrapping a child in cotton wool then acting surprised when they can't function in the real world.

[tonyp]

That's a very optimistic expectation! The nuances of prototypes/demonstrators or small sub-fleets rarely win the affection of drivers (excluding enthusiasts). Until electric vehicles become the majority in fleets, it should be expected they will be driven like a diesel or gas bus, and they should perform the same as those vehicles. Setting aside special routes, with a select few drivers (is that going to happen?) trained to treat the vehicle with kid gloves is like wrapping a child in cotton wool then acting surprised when they can't function in the real world.

The driving style is a little different in an electric vehicle, taking account of the dynamic braking and, in the case of a battery vehicle, the charging. In the early days some of the Carbridge drivers were a little prone to (figuratively) putting the passengers through the windscreen until they got the hang of it. So special training is unavoidable. One day, this type of urban bus will be the standard and drivers may need to be trained to drive diesels!