NZ-designed and made e-bus said to be 30% more efficient
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
A New Zealand designed-and-built electric bus has been officially unveiled by Transport Minister Michael Wood, who took a short spin in it on Tuesday.
The Zemtec E-City electric bus can travel about 300km between charges, is said to be 30% more efficient than other e-buses on the NZ market, and was presented at the Bus and Coach Association Conference in Rotorua.
Wood said the innovative new bus “supports Kiwi jobs and Kiwi innovation” and that the move to electric public transport would provide a positive double-whammy of reduced emissions and better air quality.
But the problem will be finding drivers, with Wood admitting he’d call the shortage “a crisis”.
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And it could put the brakes on a key plank of Government emissions reduction targets.
The E-City bus is a complete new design, Zemtec chief executive John Bayes said.
It was developed and manufactured by Zemtec (Zero Emission Technologies) in Auckland.
“We’ve been able to take advantage of the new technology and make it much lighter and more comfortable, with a completely flat floor running from the front to the back of the bus.”
Bayes said the E-City is a true new generation zero-emissions bus run on batteries with support from solar panels built into the roof of each bus.
It contains design features which make it 30% more energy-efficient than any other e-bus on the New Zealand market, as well as being safe and comfortable.
Its purchase cost was being finalised and, while it will cost more than the e-buses being imported from China, its operating costs and therefore whole of life costs will be “significantly lower”, he said.
Wood said that at present 40% of CO2 emissions were from transport, but that great strides were being made.
He said the target to have a completely decarbonised bus fleet by 2035 had been ambitious, but he was “more confident that ever we’ll get there ahead of time”.
“We’re going to clean up this fleet faster than anyone thought possible.”
He praised the sector for what he said had been their embracing of the decarbonisation journey, telling them “climate change isn’t a future threat, it’s a current reality”.
He also said that emissions-free public transport would have another less discussed impact in helping improve air quality.
Wood said that 2200 people died premature deaths in New Zealand every year due to poor air quality.
“If we don’t decarbonise transport, we won’t decarbonise New Zealand.”
He said he wanted to see the number of people using public transport triple by 2035, and that the key to this was a “credible, reliable and frequent” service.
“There is no bigger challenge than to move forward with a zero emissions bus fleet, it’s about our kids and grandkids. We need to take action now.”
He said a driver shortage was the “chronic challenge” the public sector faced at present, and that the Government had set aside $61m for driver pay and conditions.
Announcements on retaining bus drivers were due “in the very near future”, he said.
Correction: An earlier version of the story described the Zemtec E-City as the first NZ- designed and built electric bus. Christchurch manufacturer GBV, formerly Designline, also builds electric buses with its first battery electric bus with solar assistance nearing 15 years of service.