Charge of the clean brigade – first all-electric bus depot opens on Coast
Australia’s first 100 per cent electric bus depot will open on the Gold Coast with 30 new electric buses taking to Queensland routes over the next month.
The Gold Coast is to have the first electric-only bus depot in the nation. (Image: Supplied)
The new electric bus depot in Currumbin will house up to 14 eco-buses, which will run on city routes, including from the Gold Coast Airport.
Gold Coast bus manufacturer BusTech is building 10 of the new electric buses, which will be used on the Gold Coast, and a further 10 will go to Logan.
Five of the buses will be rolled out on the Sunshine Coast and another five are soon to begin operating in Cairns.
The first all-electric bus depot in the nation, built by bus operator Kinetic, will use 100 per cent renewable energy, including a 56kW solar panel array, to charge the buses, enabling them to run up to 300 kilometres before recharging.
The ‘green depot’, which is close to 3,000 square metres in size, will be fitted with Siemens charging infrastructure, including five Sicharge UC200 charging units.
Kinetic co-CEO, Adam Begg, said the move was part of the company’s roadmap to zero emissions.
The ‘green depot’ is part of Kinetic’s south-east Queensland bus operation Surfside Buslines, which has just also launched a trial of driverless buses at the Gold Coast’s Main Beach.
The Smart Shuttle follows a fixed 2.4km route around Main Beach, travelling up to a speed of 18km per hour.
“We’re now making progress in Australia as we roll out battery electric buses across the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Cairns, as well as introducing a new zero-emission bus every month in Melbourne across the Metropolitan Bus Franchise,” Begg said.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said it was “the next big thing” to decarbonise transport, with the Gold Coast the “epicentre” of sustainable transport technology.
“I think it’s really exciting,” Bailey said. “Electric buses are better for the environment and mean people will be breathing in fresher, cleaner air when they are walking around.”
He said the 30 buses were part of a commitment by the state government that by 2025 every new urban bus added to the fleet in south-east Queensland would be zero-emissions. Only zero emission buses would be added to the rest of the urban fleet across the state by 2030.
Three electric Translink buses have been on Brisbane roads since April last year.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said government research showed each electric bus could save as much as 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases over its lifespan, and electric buses were quieter and produced less harmful air pollution.
