Cape Town-based Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) is planning to introduce 60 electric buses to its fleet every year starting in 2024 until it has replaced its full fleet of 1,100 diesel-powered people haulers.
After two years of testing both a 37 and 65-seater electric bus along major commuter routes in Cape Town, GABS’s pilot project has proved to be highly successful.
Initially, the buses completed 7,000km of testing without passengers with the weight of the maximum number of occupants modelled using sandbags to check whether the vehicles would be able to traverse the mountainous terrains on which they are required to work. The real-life trials showed that the electric BYD buses were able to operate on the steepest inclines in Cape Town, most notably Hospital Bend on the M3.
In addition to the satisfactory driving performance, GABS found that it could save upwards of R657,000 per year on fuel for its diesel buses by switching to electric, as well as achieve a 50% savings in spare parts and 80% savings in oils and lubricants.
Therefore, despite the battery-powered buses being two to three times more expensive than their diesel counterparts, the cost savings will see them paying for themselves within two to eight years, according to a Green Cape case study.
Test after test has shown that bus fleets around the world will benefit from going electric. Busses are the perfect type of vehicle for this use case, as they are depot bound, have known routes and distances, and have a period of rest when charging can be done. Bus fleets also have lots of operational and maintenance data to do proper case studies. And, of course for commuters, both inside the bus and others in rush hour traffic, the air is far cleaner to breath.
The facts are, times have chnaged along with available technology and the economics are telling us the chnage now makes sense.
See https://topauto.co.za/features/83106/1100-electric-buses-coming-to-cape-town/