Skip to main content

All aboard Australia’s newest electric bus

Working in partnership with BusTech, Swinburne University of Technology has helped develop the first electric bus to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia. The first concept demonstrator bus was unveiled at the Maintenance Conference and Bus Expo in Melbourne. According to Pro vice-chancellor, International Research Engagement, Professor Ajay Kapoor, the research and development has involved solving the challenges of integrating electric vehicle technologies using computer-aided engi
July 8, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Working in partnership with BusTech, 5192 Swinburne University of Technology has helped develop the first electric bus to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia.

The first concept demonstrator bus was unveiled at the Maintenance Conference and Bus Expo in Melbourne.

According to Pro vice-chancellor, International Research Engagement, Professor Ajay Kapoor, the research and development has involved solving the challenges of integrating electric vehicle technologies using computer-aided engineering to design and configure sub-systems into the bus platform.

Researchers developed high and low voltage electrical systems for the bus, including the design architecture for electrical circuit motor controls, supervisory control and other control systems to ensure the most efficient operation.”

Professor Kapoor said that a key aspect to achieving product life-cycle cost savings was to come up with a future-proof concept, which will enable upgrades as the technology evolves. On average, the electric bus will be 80 per cent cheaper to maintain than the diesel buses currently being driven in Australia

Professor Kapoor said that Swinburne was well placed to work and conduct research on electric vehicles, bringing together experts from the automotive industry, working alongside academics with expertise in electric vehicle technologies.

“I’d really like to see the Australian government invest in this technology. For the sake of the environment, as well as the future of manufacturing in Australia,” Professor Kapoor said.

The electric bus project is a joint collaboration between BusTech (part of Transit Australia Group), the Australian Government’s Automotive Cooperative Research Centre- AutoCRC and the Malaysian Government.

Related Content

  • August 20, 2019
    Aptiv: we need overhaul of AV nervous system
    Autonomous vehicles are changing a lot of things: Aptiv’s Christian Schäfer suggests that we need to look again at traditional approaches to vehicle architecture to find viable options for the future
  • May 6, 2016
    Modelling could reduce traffic mayhem
    A mathematical model that could significantly reduce traffic congestion by combining data from existing infrastructure, remote sensors, mobile devices and their communication systems has been developed by a research team from Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology. Swinburne‘s Congestion Breaker project utilises intelligent transport systems (ITS), a field of research that combines information and data from a range of sources for effective traffic control.
  • February 17, 2014
    ITS Australia welcomes USDOT move on V2V communications
    The announcement by the United States Government announcement that it will begin taking steps to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology for light vehicles has been welcomed by ITS Australia, which said it is pivotal in taking road safety to the next level. This technology improves safety by allowing vehicles to ‘talk’ to each other and exchange basic safety data, such as speed, position and projected path, ten times per second. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) announcement inc
  • February 26, 2015
    Helsinki launches electric bus pilot
    Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) and the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) are to launch an extensive joint pilot to introduce light-weight electric buses in Helsinki, where the demanding climatic conditions provide an excellent test environment. The first 12 buses, made from aluminium and developed by Linkker, will purchased by HSL and be in service by late summer. The buses will be equipped with sensors to collect data and a real-time monitoring and control system will be developed to receive info