The ACT Government has signed a contract with Vehicle Dealers International (VDI) to buy 90 Yutong ‘E12’ battery electric buses, and is in negotiation with Custom Denning to procure four ‘Element’ battery electric buses (including charging infrastructure).

Transport Canberra expects to receive the first of the 94 electric buses from late 2023. The rest will be delivered over the next three years.

The buses are powered by lithium-ion phosphate batteries, and can operate for a maximum of 16 hours on a single charge. They can fit 65 people with 45 seated (including driver) and 20 standing.

“The new electric buses will initially replace ageing diesel and CNG buses, but will also grow the fleet overall to service our growing city,” Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Transport and City Services, said.

The ACT’s first dozen electric buses entered the fleet earlier this year. In total, the ACT will have 106 zero emission buses by 2026.

• New bus smell as first of ACT’s zero-emissions fleet hits the road (28 January)

Mr Steel said the new buses will transition more than 20 per cent of Canberra’s bus fleet to zero-emission technology. The rest of the fleet will transition by 2040 or earlier.

“These new buses will deliver the biggest change in technology for Canberra’s bus fleet in decades, as part of our Zero-Emission Transition Plan for Transport Canberra,” Mr Steel said.

“The ACT is a leader on zero emissions transport, with the largest fleet of electric buses delivered per capita in our nation.”

Mr Steel said VDI and Custom Bus Group were chosen as the preferred providers because they met all the requirements of the tender process, including value for money, delivery schedule, and bus specifications such as passengers loads and operating times.

The dozen buses already in the fleet have travelled more than 129,000 kilometres across Canberra in their first five months of operation. They travel approximately 300 kilometres per weekday. The average state of battery charge remaining on completion of shift is approximately 25 to 30 per cent. They run 11 hours per day on average, and have run nearly 15 hours on occasion.

 “Our first 12 electric buses have been successfully delivering services every day right across the Transport Canberra network,” Mr Steel said. “We are confident that the new zero emission buses will deliver the same reliable, clean, quiet and comfortable services.”

Grid infrastructure is being upgraded to supply the Tuggeranong and new Woden bus depots with the electrical capacity to charge up to 300 electric buses. Workers are also being trained.

“We’ve always said that purchasing zero emission buses is only part of the story,” Mr Steel said. “The ACT Government is supporting workers to get the skills to work on electric buses, and building the grid and charging infrastructure necessary to make the transition successful.

“This is another step in realising a better public transport system for Canberra with expansion of our light rail system under construction, new electric buses servicing the suburbs, and the new MyWay+ ticketing system in design ahead of its roll out.”