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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Sydney’s RMS opts for Schneider Electric back office toll technology
    February 22, 2013
    Schneider Electric is to use its expertise and experience in developing and implementing free-flow toll system management solutions and electronic toll payment solutions in the design, supply and installation of the tolling system back office for Australia’s New South Wales Government's Roads and Maritime Services (RMS). RMS is a delivery arm of Transport for NSW and is responsible for building and maintaining roads, conducting driving tests, issuing licences and registrations and overseeing harbours and wa
  • Vienna’s first electric bus goes into operation
    October 31, 2012
    The first electric bus (eBus) to be used in Austria’s capital city of Vienna has been put into service by the municipal transport authority, Wiener Linien, the first operator in Europe to implement and integrate eBuses into scheduled service. Designed and developed by Siemens Rail Systems and bus manufacturer Rampini, the vehicle is the first of twelve with which Wiener Linien intends to move two of the city's bus services to electric power by the summer of 2013. The vehicle’s total energy requirement is st
  • Does ADAS create as many problems as it solves
    September 23, 2014
    Victoria Banks and Neville Stanton [1] of Southampton University’s Transportation Research Group examine the real impact of creeping driver automation. Safety research suggests that 90% of accidents are thought to be a result of driver inattentiveness to unpredictable or incomplete information and the vision is that highly automated vehicles will lead to accident-free driving in the future.
  • Autonomous truck platooning moves up a gear with NXP and DAF Trucks
    November 25, 2016
    NXP Semiconductors is setting the pace in truck platooning with full-size commercial vehicles that can run at 80kmph only 11 metres apart, offering up to 11 per cent in fuel savings. The Dutch technology company believes that “there’s no better place than truck platooning to demonstrate the merits of autonomous driving.” Its research team has been working with DAF Trucks to develop leading edge technology that can make driving decisions ‘30 times faster than human reaction time’. NXP says that adapt