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An electric bus designed and built in Dairy Flat took its first passengers on a ride in Rotorua on October 10, following its official launch by Transport Minister Michael Wood. In the next few weeks, it will be driven on local school routes.
Developed and manufactured by Zemtec (Zero Emission Technologies), the E-City bus is hailed as an exciting development for sustainable transport.
The bus has been a few years in the making – the company formed in early 2019 and Hibiscus Matters first took a look at the partially completed prototype back in 2020.
Zemtec’s parent company, Bayes Coachlines Limited, received $302,000 from the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority’s (EECA) Low Emissions Transport Fund towards the construction and trial of the bus.
Zemtec chief executives John and Richard Bayes drove the bus from Dairy Flat to Rotorua for the launch, and say it performs exceptionally well.
John Bayes says the E-City is the first fully electric bus designed from the ground up and built in NZ.
“Other electric buses built in NZ have used Chinese chassis. However, our bus uses high quality components from around the world, particularly Europe and the United States.”
Most of the frame and exterior were locally made, involving Silverdale companies.
“We’ve been able to take advantage of new technology and make it much lighter and more comfortable, with a flat floor running from the front to the back.”
Other innovations include placing the batteries in the roof, adding solar panels and using cameras and monitors instead of wing mirrors, reducing driver blind spots.
The price of the Zemtec E-City bus is yet to be finalised, but while it will cost more than e-buses imported from China, John Bayes says operating costs will be significantly lower, as it is 30 percent more energy efficient.
“Most electric bus are based on old diesel bus designs which are considerably heavier than the E-City,” he says. “It will carry more passengers at a substantially lighter weight than its competitors, so road user charges, charging costs and driver training costs are lower. It can travel around 300km before it needs recharging.”
He says there is a lot of interest from bus operators in NZ and Australia, and Zemtec can scale up manufacturing quickly, if required. Meanwhile work has started on the second bus and projects after that include a ‘bendy bus’, then an electric truck.
The E-City will begin trials on school runs around the Coast in the coming weeks and the company is in discussions with Auckland Transport on plans to trial it on commercial routes in Auckland next month.
Backstories October 1, 2020
