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SINGAPORE: Singapore took another step toward a cleaner public bus fleet with the introduction of 10 electric double-decker buses on Tuesday (October 27).
This lot is part of the 60 electric buses that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) bought in 2018 for S $ 50 million from three teams: the Chinese consortium Yutong-NARI, Shenzhen-based BYD, and the Singaporean firm ST Engineering.
Yutong’s 10 new double-decker buses, each of which can carry about 120 passengers, bring the total number of electric buses here to 25, out of a public bus fleet of around 5,800.
The LTA launched an initial batch of 10 Yutong single-decker electric buses in April, on five routes operated by the four public bus operators here. Five more BYD single-deck buses were introduced in July.
The 60 electric buses are expected to be deployed next year.
They will join 50 diesel-electric hybrid buses already on the roads, which were purchased from Volvo at a cost of S $ 30 million in 2017.
The authority had indicated that the use of electric buses would help reduce carbon emissions by approximately 7,840 tons per year, the equivalent of the emissions of 1,700 cars.
These buses will also be quieter, with electric buses generating an ambient noise level of around 75 decibels, three decibels lower than that of a typical Euro 6 diesel bus.
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The LTA had first tested the use of an electric bus here with Shenzhen-based BYD and the Go-Ahead bus operator between 2016 and 2017, as part of a test on the suitability of such vehicles here.
The double-decker electric vehicles will begin rolling out to three services starting Tuesday.
They include service 83, which is operated by Go-Ahead and runs a 13 km route around Punggol and Sengkang, and service 189, which is run by Tower Transit and serves a 16 km route in the Bukit Batok area. .
The new buses will also be available on the 983 service, an SMRT service that runs an 11 km route in the Choa Chu Kang area.
It will take approximately four hours to fully charge each of the double-decker buses, which can travel up to 215 km on a single charge.
The lithium iron phosphate batteries used by the buses can withstand high operating temperatures, improving passenger safety, the LTA said.
In March, then-Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary said the government would buy only electric or hybrid buses in the future, in line with its goal of making public buses run on cleaner energy by 2040.
Located at the rear of the first floor of the buses, the batteries allow the buses to travel up to 415 km when fully charged. (Photo: Zhaki Abdullah)
WORTH THE PRICE
Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and State Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat saw some of the new buses on Tuesday during a visit to the Bulim depot, run by Tower Transit.
Speaking to the media after the visit, Chee noted that electric buses were more expensive compared to conventional diesel-powered models.
In response to media inquiries, the LTA said electric buses could cost up to twice the price of a diesel bus and up to 35 percent more than a hybrid diesel-electric bus.
Managing the current electric fleet will help better understand the life cycle cost of such buses, he added.
“We are doing it (buying cleaner fuel buses) because we believe it is better for the environment and this is a step we want to take to support a more sustainable and greener future,” said Chee, who is also Minister of State for External relationships.
“I think that as technology evolves, the costs of batteries, electric buses, cleaner fuel for buses will go down and we will also have more options from which we can choose,” he added, noting that this could include hydrogen. or fuel cells. Models.
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CARGO INFRASTRUCTURE
The LTA said that two types of charging infrastructure will be used for these 60 electric buses, with 40 buses using plug-in charging.
“For plug-in charging, buses are charged by manually plugging in the charging guns overnight during off-hours at bus stations. They charge between 90 kW and 150 kW for two to four hours, ”said an LTA spokesperson.
The larger batteries on board these buses allow them to run between 200km and 300km on a full charge, the spokesperson added.
There are currently 32 charging stations spread across the Bulim, Loyang and Seletar bus stations.
Electric bus charging points at Bulim bus station. (Photo: Zhaki Abdullah)
Meanwhile, another 20 buses will use pantograph charging, where roof-mounted chargers in designated parking lots lower connectors to the roof of the buses to allow them to charge.
“With pantograph charging, electric buses are charged with a higher power input of up to 450 kW during their short waiting time of 10 to 15 minutes at bus interchanges,” the LTA said, adding that these buses they have smaller batteries on board and shorter operating mileage of up to 30 miles per charge.
The pantograph charge is expected to be used by the 20 electric buses supplied by ST Engineering.
