Coach & Bus issue 48 by Transport Publishing Australia

November 2021 – $9.50 incl. GST

www.truckandbus.net.au

FIRST DRIVE- HYZON-BLK HYDROGEN FUEL CELL BUS

• VOLVO'S NEW BZL ELECTRIC • GLOBAL ZERO EMISSION REVIEW • COUNTRY OPERATOR STORIES WITH BENZ AND SCANIA

ISSN 2653-1925

9 772653 192005 >

STOCK BUSES in stock or coming soon Coach Concepts Scania K310

Irizar Scania K310

Scania Touring K360

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Up to 57 seats (not fitted) Power - 310hp (228Kw) @ 1900rpm Torque - 1550Nm @ 1150 - 1350rpm ABS/ESP & Disc Brakes

IN STOCK

Up to 57 seats (not fitted) Power - 310hp (228Kw) @ 1900rpm Torque - 1550Nm @ 1100 - 1350rpm ABS/ESP & Disc Brakes

AVAILABLE FEB ‘22

Up to 57 seats (not fitted) Power - 360hp (265Kw) @ 1900rpm Torque - 1700Nm @ 1050 - 1300rpm EBS with integratedABS & ESP Rigid front axle, Independent front suspension Biodiesel, HVO and Diesel fuel options

IN STOCK

Coach Design Scania K310

Volgren Scania K310

EXPRESS COACH Scania K310

• • • •

Up to 57 seats (not fitted) Power - 310hp (228Kw) @ 1900rpm Torque - 1550Nm @ 1100 - 1350rpm ABS/ESP & Disc Brakes

AVAILABLE FEB ‘22

Up to 57 seats (not fitted) Power - 310hp (228Kw) @ 1900rpm Torque - 1550Nm @ 1100 - 1350rpm ABS/ESP & Disc Brakes

IN STOCK

Up to 57 seats (not fitted) Power - 310hp (228Kw) @ 1900rpm Torque - 1550Nm @ 1100 - 1350rpm ABS/ESP & Disc Brakes

IN STOCK

Buses in stock are available for immediate delivery*. All vehicles come with Scania expert driver training and 2 years warranty** as standard.

customised REPAIR & MAINTENANCE PACKAGES The best vehicles deserve the best after-sales care and our comprehensive flexible maintenance plans, backed by extensive national parts coverage and driver monitoring and coaching, provide you with maximum productivity, minimum costs and complete peace of mind. Contact your dedicated Scania representative to discuss a tailored repair and maintenance package, customised to your specific working environment.

CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL “Scania R&M gives me peace of mind, as it gives full coverage of all Scania related components. It is valid Australia wide, which means the nearest Scania dealer will always be able to assist me, regardless if it’s my home Dealer or not. Both maintenance and repairs are being done by skilled technicians using genuine Scania parts. When it comes to business planning, the fixed monthly rates means there are no unexpected costs or surprises!” Toby Starr – Managing Director, Allstarr Coaches.

Call your Scania Account Manager today to order your new bus and discuss our flexible R&M packages designed for the only business that matters. YOURS. VIC / SA / TAS / WA Dean Cash: 0478 310 518 Jamie Atkinson: 0408 059 501

NSW Shane Simpson: 0411 768 027 Logan Hoser: 0411 768 047 Ian Clarke: 0438 482 492

QLD / NT Brian Thompson: 0418 531 632 Ian Clarke: 0438 482 492

www.scania.com.au * Delivery times subject to prior sale and dependent upon seat installation and finalisation of specification. **Please refer to Scania warranty policy terms and conditions.

go electric with volvo

The new Volvo BZL Electric chassis delivers Australia’s most safe, responsible and sustainable electric bus system. Designed from tried and tested European technology and tailored to demanding Australian operating conditions, the Volvo BZL Electric offers peace of mind with Volvo’s renowned data protection and circular battery management systems. As our customers have come to expect, the new Volvo BZL Electric delivers second to none quality, reliability and safety. And, with extensive support from Australia’s only dedicated bus team and the largest dealer network in the country, you can rest assured you’re on board with the electromobility experts when you Go Electric With Volvo.

Scan the QR code below to find out more

001 Drivers Seat

GET ON BOARD THE ELECTRIC BANDWAGON

andwagons are often crowded vehicles, not only having to carry the committed members of the band but also all those hangers

on who have climbed aboard to be a part of the wave of popularity.

Humans are funny creatures. We are pack animals and most of us generally like to be a part of what is popular. It is really fascinating to see the growing

interest and desire to be a part of the zero emission vehicle revolution and to witness

how many are now clamouring to climb aboard that particular bandwagon. Don’t get us wrong, we have been on that bandwagon ourselves for some time and we are delighted to have more climbing aboard. We understand the scepticism of many who have for years run their buses and their businesses on diesel. However after more than 100 years of internal combustion engines in road transport, it is hard for us to remember or know of the scepticism of stage coach operators and horse drawn omnibus owners when the clunky, noisy expensive powered buses first arrived on the scene. Fact is that we are an evolutionary bunch and the slow, small changes melt into everyday living and we don’t notice them

until we look back and realise things have changed quite dramatically. The changes coming with zero emission transport will be much more than

small evolutionary steps, more like big revolutionary steps, steps that will change the face of everything we do. We have drawn the analogy relating to

the coming changes before, comparing them to standing on a beach, looking out to sea, and spying a swell gathering on the horizon. It might seem to take a long time to reach us but over time we realise that

this is more than a small swell and it is in fact a tidal wave of change.

We in the media see that the entire complexion has changed in the last two or three years. The pandemic has probably

precipitated an acceleration of the change, but it has gained significant momentum as more and more manufacturers flag

new zero emission vehicles, more and more major corporations have allocated

capital funds to invest in clean transport, and more governments have committed to incentivise or even mandate change to zero emission, even if our Federal

government has been dragged kicking and screaming to the reality of clean vehicles. Just over two years ago our PM Scott Morrison was trying to hose down the Opposition’s policy on electric vehicles in

the lead up to the last election, telling us that they were trying to steal our weekends and that they wouldn’t tow our boats or caravans. Now with the pressure from

other countries and most importantly from our closest allies, the USA and UK,

looming Mr Morrison has had an epiphany and denies that he ever was against electric vehicles. We are not here to criticise the PM, we should all just be grateful that the policy has shifted and that we might see some positive movement on electric vehicles. The really perplexing and frustrating thing has been the fact that our state governments, both Liberal and Labor have embraced the zero emission concept and are taking the lead. This is clear in both NSW, where Liberal Environment minister (and now treasurer) Matt Kean, along with recently departed Transport minister,

Andrew Constance have led the way in embracing electric public transport, and in Liberal ruled South Australia where there is also a similar zeal for the shift to zero.

More than that, we cannot believe that the captains of industry and business leaders, who you expect and know to be

battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell or even hybrid will come down dramatically as more and more are built, as the cost of

batteries comes down and the efficiency goes up, and most importantly they will be less costly to run and operate.

It won’t be an easy transition, there will be heartache, there will be challenges, but rest assured it will be the right thing to do and it will bring benefits to operators, passengers, the environment and our planet.

So plug us in and make it happen. As we step down off that bandwagon for a moment, let us tell you about what we have in this issue, which is pretty packed with the latest zero emission stories. As you have seen from our cover story, we have test driven the new BLK Hyzon hydrogen fuel cell bus, the first magazine in Australia to get behind the wheel of this

revolutionary new technology zero emission bus and what an inspiring vehicle it is.

We also preview Volvo’s new BZL Electric route bus which has arrived in Australia and will soon be deployed in Perth. On the same bent we look at how the

zero emission revolution in buses is being taken up in markets around the world and where the technology race is at.

the prime cheer leaders for conservative

With a more conventional focus we visit two bus fleets in regional NSW, both of

energy and transport.

both really fascinating yarns that we are sure you will enjoy.

governments, have been largely ignored by the PM and his government, even as they are making massive investments in clean Trying to resist a move like this is akin to trying to hold back that Tsunami rolling toward the beach. This is a force that

cannot be stopped, it is global, it will bring enormous good and we will look back at this time and wonder why we didn’t do it sooner. The cost of electric buses, whether

which have built and grown significant bus operations virtually from nothing,

On a smaller scale we have road tests of Volkswagen’s fine new Crafter based mini-bus and the new Hyundai Staria, a

nine-seater with futuristic looks and great

performance. All that and a whole lot more in this issue of Coach & Bus, so enjoy the read, take care and remember the future is bright.

003 www.truckandbus.net.au

Issue 048

CONTENTS CONTACT DETAILS PO Box 7046 Warringah Mall NSW 2100 www.truckandbus.net.au admin@truckandbus.net.au Enquiries 02 9938 6408 Follow us on Twitter #truckandbusnews Follow us on Facebook at Truck and Bus Australia

Publisher Jon Thomson admin@truckandbus.net.au Editor in Chief Peter Barnwell peter@truckandbus.net.au

FEATURES

E-VOLUTION

The chance to drive one of Australia’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered buses was too great an opportunity for us to pass up and while the logistics proved difficult the experience was enormously rewarding. Coach & Bus gets the chance to have the first media drive of the Hyzon BLK fuel cell bus, a bus we reckon will revolutionise the industry.

22 SWIMMING WITH THE CURRENT

It is fair to say that Volvo Bus has not been at the head of the pack in the mad clamour to bring electric buses to Australian roads. However with the winds of change howling through the bus depots of this country, even a conservative and considered approach to the zero-emission challenge called for some forward motion. The launch of the new Volvo BZL Electric signals a new era for the Swedish giant and Coach & Bus tuned in for this ground breaking zero emission bus.

28 ZERO SUM GAME

Electric bus adoption in public transport urban fleet is growing all over the world. It started in China, and it has taken a few years for other regions to start the transition. But now Europe is booming and 2021 will be remembered as the year when electric bus sales volumes experienced definitive ramp up. We take a look at the state of play in the switch to electric buses around the globe.

36 ON THE BENZ OF THE MURRAY

For most it would be a big jump from the shearing sheds of western NSW to running a thriving bus operation in the town of Tocumwal, but for Mark Baldwin that is exactly what he did, trading the hard yakka of shearing for the easier but often logistically challenging business of operating buses. We dropped by Baldwins to take a look at the operation.

Art Director Fiona Meadows fiona@kududesign.com.au

42 THE MILLER’S TALE

Advertising Sales Jon Thomson Mobile: 0418 641 959 admin@truckandbus.net.au

48 SMALL BUS – BIG HEART

Contributing Writers Barry Flanagan, Sven Erik Lindsrand Contributing Photographers Mark Bean, Cristian Brunelli, Jan Glovac

A disagreement with a former employer over safety standards led Harry Miller to start his own bus service and now 16 years later the former operations manager and mechanic heads up a prosperous family run bus service in the NSW Riverina.

Here at Coach & Bus we have been trying to get behind the wheel of Volkswagen’s locally converted Crafter mini-bus since they launched the concept back in preCovid days in February 2020. We finally had the chance recently, and came away impressed with a mini-bus that is sure to find a niche, particularly in the tourism/ shuttle/transfer market.

REGULARS Coach & Bus Magazine is published under licence by Transport Publishing Australia and is distributed to road transport professionals, fleets, business professionals and the industry throughout Australia. All material contained herein including text, photography, design elements and format are copyright and cannot be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Grayhaze Pty Ltd is a member of the Copyright Agency Limited (1800 066 844). Editorial contributions are welcome for consideration. Contact the Editor or Publisher for guidelines, fees and level of interest. All unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamp, addressed envelope for their return. We will not be held responsible for material supplied electronically. Proudly printed in Australia

Single copy price $9.50 incl. GST

03 DRIVER’S SEAT

Editor Peter Barnwell has his say on the growing technology tidal wave and what it might mean in the bus world.

06 UP FRONT We wrap up the key local and international bus and coach news that affects us as a global industry and where we are heading.

54 LCV We take a look at the Hyundai Staria.

60 COMPANY CAR Nissan Leaf.

64 MONEY

Paul Clitheroe’s latest advice on finances.

22 36

VENTURA PLUGS INTO VOLGREN BYD ELECTRIC BUS FOR MELBOURNE LEADING MELBOURNE bus operator, Ventura, has added a battery electric bus to its fleet for the first time, taking delivery of the electric bus from long-time bus body builder Volgren. The bus is a Volgren Optimus built on a BYD D9RA chassis and Ventura’s managing director, Andrew Cornwall, said the decision to choose the combination came after several years evaluating the current crop of BEBs. “Ventura customers enjoy high levels of reliability and punctuality for their bus services, so it was critical that we chose a very dependable solution for our first battery electric bus. “Ventura has been buying buses from Volgren for more than 20 years and we have built a very respectful partnership. Despite the challenges of COVID, Volgren has delivered. They’ve provided plenty of support and understanding with our maintenance team and driver trainers as we embark on this new technology,” Cornwall said. David Burgess, general manager of fleet and maintenance for

006 www.truckandbus.net.au

Ventura said investing in any new technology requires a strong customer focus. “Our long-term relationship with Volgren gives us a high level of confidence to support such a long-term investment. “The Volgren-BYD combination was a strong fit for Ventura’s transition into the BEB platform, due to its forward-thinking approach to ADR requirements and the training support needed to ensure we maximize efficiencies and minimise disruptions to the business,” Burgess said. Yuri Tessari, Volgren’s National Sales Manager, said the delivery of Ventura’s first BEB was a great example of strong, long-standing partnerships working to deliver clean fleets. “Ventura has hundreds of Volgrens in its fleet and the fact that they have retained their body option as they moved to electric vehicles speaks volumes. It demonstrates that they trust our products and our service.” Victorian Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said the

addition to Ventura’s fleet marked a milestone in the Government’s transition to zero-emissions buses as it was Victoria’s first permanent electric bus to hit the road. “We recognise the work that needs to be done to fully transition our public bus fleet to zero emissions, and the arrival of our first permanent electric bus is an important step towards this.” “A full bus has the potential to take 50 cars off the road – if it’s an electric bus, the environmental benefits increase substantially.” Thiago Deiro, CEO of Volgren congratulated Ventura on the company’s first BEB and said the delivery was a reminder of Volgren’s capabilities and capacity to meet operators’ growing demand for zero-emission buses. “We started with a single electric prototype in 2018. Three years later, we’re starting to see a higher volume of battery electric bus orders across all three of our factories in Australia. And some of that interest is coming from customers that until very recently weren’t even talking about e-buses.”

Deiro added that while manufacturing quality and after sales service are a central part of Volgren products’ appeal to the Australian market, the company’s commitment to local content and local jobs also sets it apart. “We build electric buses in Victoria using about 100 Australian suppliers and are incredibly proud to achieve almost 90 per cent local production for the body build. We’re also focused on innovative solutions with a range of OEMs.” “That means operators can consider Volgren electric vehicles knowing they are supporting Australian and Victorian jobs while also getting outstanding choice when it comes to chassis technology.” Ventura’s first BEB will be deployed at their Ivanhoe depot in Melbourne’s inner north and will operate on every route run from that depot, including LaTrobe University, Northland and Preston. Cornwall said he hopes this BEB is the first of many to be deployed by Ventura over the next several years.

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MERCEDES SPARKS INTEREST WITH ALL ELECTRIC BUS CHASSIS HERE NEXT YEAR

“

MERCEDES-BENZ Bus has announced it will introduce an electric bus chassis in Australia next year. Benz revealed the zero local emission electric city bus chassis in Brazil recently and says that prototype buses, using the new electric chassis, are currently being tested in Germany and Brazil. The company has announced the new Mercedes Benz electric city bus chassis will be available in Australia in the last quarter of 2022 and the Australian-specification electric chassis will have a range of more than 300km and will be able to be fully-charged in little more than three hours. Mercedes Benz rival, Volvo is set

008 www.truckandbus.net.au

to launch its first battery electric bus chassis this month with the prospect that two of the heaviest hitters in the local route bus market will both have all electric chassis coming to Australia in the near future. Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific president and CEO, Daniel Whitehead, said that Australian customers will welcome an electric bus chassis from a brand they can trust. “Daimler is proud to offer customers advanced electric solutions for trucks and buses that have been properly developed, tried and tested in order to deliver the class-leading quality and performance expected

“OUR CUSTOMERS ARE EXCITED ABOUT A MERCEDES-BENZ BUS THAT EMITS ZERO LOCAL EMISSIONS” from our trusted brands,” he said. “Our customers are excited about a Mercedes-Benz bus that emits zero local emissions and is perfect for operation both in the regions and cities and suburbs with high pedestrian density. We know the Mercedes-Benz electric city bus chassis will deliver exactly what they have asked for,” Daniel Whitehead added. As part of its electric bus chassis package, MercedesBenz says it will also offer a consultancy service to help customers with everything required to integrate the new vehicles into their existing fleet including energy supply, battery recharge infrastructure and fleet

operation planning. The company added that the electric bus chassis product will also be supported by the Mercedes-Benz dealership network that spans the country. The electric city bus chassis is a low-floor model suitable for locally-made bodies up to 13.2 metres long, with the electric motor integrated into the rear axle, with an EBS electronic braking and energy recovery system incorporated into the driveline. The company added that the electric bus chassis development was led by Mercedes-Benz in Brazil, where it will be built for the Latin America, Europe and Oceania markets.

Systematic Perfection! The electric driveline is here to stay. ZF therefore provides two solutions for city buses up to 29t. From these two solutions bus manufacturers and end customers choose the system that suits their requirements best: the AxTrax AVE electric portal axle or the CeTrax electric central drive. Both products feature high peak and constant power with liquid cooling and a low dead weight. The AxTrax AVE with two integrated wheel motors and a maximum power of 250 kW can be installed with conventional ZF low-floor axles and allows for innovative bus concepts. With the integrated planetary stage of ZF EcoLife, CeTrax transfers 300 kW to the road and can be installed in all types of buses with standard axles. The ZF experts provide the same long-term support and service from a single source as for conventional systems. zf.com/buses

For more information, contact ZF Services Australia 02 9679 5555

KINETIC’S MELBOURNE BUS CONTRACT WIN WILL SEE 50 JOBS ADDED AT VOLGREN

THE DECISION by the Victorian Department of Transport decision to award Melbourne’s franchise bus fleet to operator Kinetic will see bus builder Volgren, will create 50 new jobs to service the new contract. Victoria’s minister for transport, Ben Carroll announced Kinetic, which already operates the SkyBus Melbourne airport service, will take control of Melbourne’s 537-strong fleet of public transport buses. As part of the deal Kinetic will introduce five Volgren battery electric buses (BEBs) into the city’s network by June next year and by mid-2025 says it will have introduced 36 BEBs, plus more than 100 Volgren-bodied hybrid buses. Thiago Deiro, CEO of Volgren, said the Department of Transport’s decision to prioritise green transport would help reduce emissions, and that by promoting local content the Victorian Government were supporting Australian manufacturing and

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Victorian job creation. “Every manufacturer strives to plan and structure their business based on long-term demand. The Metropolitan Bus Franchise helps us to do exactly that. Our expectation is that our direct labour resources will increase by 45 to 50 percent, or by around 50 direct new jobs.” “Over the past four decades, Volgren has become part of an extensive and thriving southeast Melbourne manufacturing ecosystem. And we plan on building on it by investing in programs to enhance apprenticeand traineeships at our Dandenong facility during the life of the contract.” “Volgren keeps investing in jobs and in the local supply chain because we want local manufacturing to succeed but we know government backing is essential for that to continue.” Victorian Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll said the new franchise was a significant

development in Victoria’s transition to zero-emissions buses, accelerating the government’s plans for all new public transport buses to be zero emissions from 2025. “We are jump starting our push for a zero-emissions bus fleet in Victoria to benefit the environment and help build our engineering, design and manufacturing expertise in these emerging technologies.” Deiro said that when you buy a Volgren Australian-bodied bus, you are buying more than just a bus. Volgren’s buses maximise operator value overtime through quality, after sales, customer relationship and passenger experience. “Australian manufacturing now offers the highest quality levels I’ve seen in the bus industry. That comes from Volgren’s advanced manufacturing capabilities combined with the exceptional quality of materials and components produced by our local supply chain. “Buying a locally made bus supports Victorian’s circular economy, but also means operators and governments can be confident that their vehicle will be on the road for 20 years or more.” Deiro said that Melbourne was home to some of the country’s best public transport operators and the decision to appoint one would not have been any easy task. “We’re very happy for Kinetic. It’s a great achievement for them and we’re proud that they have selected us as their body supplier for this new era in Melbourne’s

public transport system. “I’d also like acknowledge our partnership with Transdev and the other operators who participated in the tender,” Thiago said. Volgren has collaborated with Kinetic for almost two decades, delivering more than 30 buses for their SkyBus and Surfside operations. “The Metropolitan e Bus Franchise represents a huge step for the Kinetic-Volgren partnership and we will make every effort to ensure this remains a successful alliance. “Volgren really appreciates dealing with operators that know what they are looking for and have deep understanding of the products and the industry as a whole. That’s what we get with Kinetic. They have a great team whose members are very knowledgeable and transparent.” Deiro said that Volgren was well-prepared for Victoria’s transition to a low- and zeroemission bus fleet. “All our factories are gearedup to start building BEBs at the scale required to meet the needs Australia’s shift to zero-emission technology. “The Department of Transport’s decision is a great first step for Victoria. The new franchise arrangement, in addition to the zero-emission bus trials, will allow Kinetic and Volgren to deliver high volumes of BEBs to the streets of Melbourne. They will be tried and tested buses that Melburnians and visitors to the city will love to travel on.”

QUEENSLAND’S FIRST ALL ELECTRIC BUS DEPOT SOON TO BE A REALITY

QUEENSLAND’S first all-electric bus depot will soon be a reality with major transport operator, Keolis Downer announcing it has selected Siemens to deliver eBus charging solutions to its new North Lakes depot in Brisbane. The depot will be operational from September 2022 and in service from February 2023, and will be capable of powering 16 zero-emission buses serving more than 60,000 residents in Brisbane’s northern suburbs. Keolis Downer said it will upgrade the North Lakes depot in partnership with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. The Queensland Government has made a commitment that every new bus in South East Queensland will be zero emission from 2025 and that regional implementation will begin between 2025 and 2030. Siemens said it will supply five Sicharge UC200 and 16 Sicharge UC Dispenser charging units capable of delivering a peak power output of 200kW. Siemens will also provide commissioning, spares, and preventative maintenance services for the

depot, supporting the 100% electric bus fleet designed and built in Queensland by Australian manufacturers BusTech Group. “The flexibility of the Siemens Sicharge UC product family has enabled nations across the world to reap the benefits of electrified transport, with world-leading technology solutions providing local capability. Operators require flexible, robust and scalable solutions, and we are proud to see Keolis Downer choose Siemens technology to power Queensland’s largest eBus fleet,” Siemens Australia Pacific chairman and chief executive officer, Jeff Connolly, said “Transport fleets are one of the largest sources of emissions in Australia, and the decarbonisation of transport is an important part of meeting net-zero emissions targets. As more bus networks move to embrace new full electric bus technology, electrical and charging infrastructure will need to scale to meet this demand and ensure the seamless movement of people through our increasingly connected cities,” Connolly said. Keolis Downer has also engaged Siemens to supply Sicharge UC

e-charging equipment at the Hamilton depot in Newcastle, New South Wales, to support the first electric buses trialled by the operator in Australia. Regular services from the Hamilton depot are expected to commence by the February 2022. The Siemens Sicharge UC platform provides bus operators with optimal flexibility when planning electric bus depots, offering compact, sequential and ultra-high power charging options capable of producing up to 800 kW at 1,000 volts (V). This allows operators to benefit from the rapid advances being made in battery technology, with the option to scale-up economically by adding up to five dispensers plus a pantograph to each charging centre. Keolis Downer CEO David Franks said selecting Siemens has ensured the operator can futureproof its eBus operations. “With electric bus technology developing at a fast pace, bus operators require holistic charging and depot management solutions that we can rely on to grow alongside the technology it powers and market demand.

Siemens provides a world-class platform, enabling us to scale up quickly and meet the expectations of our passengers,” said Franks. The largest private operator of multi-modal public transit in Australia, Keolis Downer’s footprint extends into five states across heavy rail, light rail, tramways and buses. In Brisbane’s northern suburbs, it operates public and school bus services under the Hornibrook Bus Lines brand as a contractor to both TransLink and Brisbane Transport, with 1.7 million passenger journeys taken on its network each year. The announcement with Keolis Downer comes after Australian bus company Custom Denning selected the Sicharge UC product family to power its new ‘Element’ eBuses in Australia. Siemens provides world-class charging infrastructure designed specifically for electric bus depot applications, but also supply complementary technologies such as microgrid, grid connection and charging management solutions, all of which are increasingly becoming essential components of electric bus depots.

TRANSIT SYSTEMS SETS UP LARGEST ELECTRIFIED BUS DEPOT IN OZ AHEAD OF MOVE TO ZERO EMISSION

TRANSIT SYSTEMS has announced it is set to create the largest electrified bus depot in Australia, transforming the Leichardt bus depot it operates in Sydney’s inner West to cope with the large scale introduction of zero emission buses under NSW Government plans over the next few years. Transit Systems says it has worked with Transport for NSW as well as key industry partners, including Zenobé and Transgrid, using national funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), alongside the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CFEC) for the construction project. Sydney commuters will be seeing more green power on urban streets, with Transit Systems currently operating 15 electric buses across the Inner West. The company says that taking the successful electric pilot programs to scale has required significant planning and infrastructure works to ensure 012 www.truckandbus.net.au

the grid and electrical network can cope with the charging and energy storage needs. “With responsibility for transporting over 207 million passengers each year, we strive to not just meet the community’s needs today, but ensure we future-proof our solutions with sustainable outcomes that will benefit us all tomorrow,” said Clint Feuerherdt, CEO of Transit Systems parent company, SeaLink Travel Group. “Part of achieving this has been our active participation in trials of new technology and creating relationships with key stakeholders to ensure we have the operational experience that doesn’t just adapt, but leads the market,” Feuerherdt said. Zenobé co-founder and director, Steven Meersman said the companies have proudly worked together, to be able to deliver the next step by providing expert grid management with joint venture partners Transgrid, along with

Zenobé’s innovative software and end-of-life battery solutions. “The combination of Transit Systems global transport experience with our battery knowhow and proprietary software solutions showcases the pathway to more zero emission transport solutions in Australia, and across the world,” said Meersman. “This hallmark collaboration demonstrates what is possible in the rollout of greener public transport by bringing together expertise from energy and transport sector, and we’re excited to share the outcomes and learnings as we progress with the wider industry,” he said. Clint Feuerherdt added it is a passion for innovation and sustainability driving the industry forward. “We’re incredibly proud to collaborate with our industry partners and Government stakeholders to get these electric buses from vision to reality – it is a turning point for delivering more

sustainable transport on a mass scale,” said Feuerherdt. As part of this agreement, 40 new electric buses have been ordered by Transit Systems and will join the 15 electric buses already in service. The remaining buses will arrive progressively over the next year, locally finished with windscreens, mirrors, grab bars and seating, before heading to the Leichhardt depot. “Our customers are telling us they feel better on an electric bus – and that’s really important to us because it means sustainability isn’t just a trend or catch phrase - it’s a real vision that we can all connect on and work towards. “For our employees, there’s a joy in knowing that they are contributing to our environmental economy each and every day and there’s certainly interest among our frontline staff to take the additional electric bus training courses and drive an electric vehicle,” he said.

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VOLVO BUS PRIORITISES TECHNICAL TRAINING AHEAD OF ELECTRIC REVOLUTION Vo l v o B u s A u s t ra l i a has reveal ed i t has do uble d dow n o n prio ritis ing tra ining a cro s s its diesel a n d e l e c t r i c o f f eri ng sayi ng i t i s rei nf orcing its co mmitme nt to qua lity, s a fe ty a nd re lia b ility. VOLVO BUS general manager, Mitch Peden, said that even through recent unpredictable times, VBA has prioritised delivery of technical training across the country. “This past 18 months have posed many difficulties for the industry, however we have remained committed to delivering key support to our customers and partners through continuing our specialised training – both, through in person training in COVID safe conditions, and rethinking our approach by delivering online training,” said Peden. “It is a priority for us to equip our customers with necessary training for securing the best

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uptime for their fleets, and our dedicated bus team have been doing a fantastic job of delivering the services our customers and partners have come to expect from Volvo Bus.” “Notably, Volvo Bus National competency manager David Woodward has delivered extensive face to face training to various local customers, with even more expected to take place now that NSW Covid restrictions have eased,” he said. “Border closures and travel restrictions have meant that we have needed to rethink how we could effectively deliver the training we had planned, so we’ve implemented virtual

training to interstate partners, and we’re calling on our ‘Commercial Crew’ approach to have local team members there in person.” Following the recent launch of its BZL Electric chassis, Volvo says it is leading the industry in offering electromobility training, in the development of an Electromobility Micro skills Course with TAFE NSW – due to be officially released to the public in January 2022. “Given the nature of electric vehicles, high voltage systems require extensive understanding about the way vehicles are built, operated and serviced, and the Electromobility Micro skills Course that we’ve developed

hand in hand with TAFE NSW will be an important first step in developing this industry-wide knowledge,” said Peden. “We consistently strive to enhance the quality of our products and services, and our efforts within the training space for customers and partners is key to this,” he said. “We want to ensure workshop technicians, drivers, and operators have a good understanding of the differences of running an electric fleet – we’re working with technology that is new to all of us, so we have to equip ourselves with new information and new knowledge, at every step of the journey,” said Peden.

BLK DROPS HYDROGEN BOMB - RECRUITING BRITISH BUS EXPERT

QUEENSLAND based vehicle distributor, BLK Auto has announced it has recruited veteran British bus industry executive and engineer, Graham Belgum as its hydrogen technology to bolster its capabilities as it looks to grows it hydrogen vehicle development and fuel supply services. Graham Belgum most recently was the CEO of Optare Buses working specifically on a range of zero emission bus programs with both battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell technology. He is a professional engineer by training with more than 40 years experience across design, development and operational support across mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment. Commencing his new role as professional adviser this week, Belgum, BLK Auto says he takes over to enhance its hydrogen fuel cell vehicle development and support capability as it works with local body manufacturers to develop and integrate its fuel cell solutions to their fleets. “I’m delighted to welcome Graham to the BLK Auto team,’’ BLK Auto managing director Jason Pecotic said. “His experience and tenure in this sector is a huge boon for our business, and we look forward to leveraging his wisdom and capabilities as we seek to significantly boost our hydrogen offerings to customers.” Graham Belgum said he was looking forward to hitting the ground running with BLK to help fill a large and looming gap in Australia’s hydrogen sector. “Hydrogen is the way forward for a clean energy future, and BLK Auto is at the forefront here in Australia to make a meaningful impact in this sector. “I’ve known Jason from my time at Optare, and it is a pleasure to be joining his team. I look forward to playing my part in further developing BLK Auto’s hydrogen capabilities.” According to BLK Auto, Belgum’s career dates back to the first 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses that went into service in the United Kingdom for Transport for London after they were introduced in 2003. During this time, he served as engineering director for First Group in London and oversaw the introduction of the first and second generation fuel cell buses into operation, including the development of Lea Interchange to refuel and maintain FEVs for the Olympics. In recent years, he has led the design, development and support of a range of battery electric buses as the chief executive officer for Optare Buses, and worked on the design and development of a double decker fuel cell bus.

QUANTRON E-BUS TO DEBUT IN GERMANY LATER THIS YEAR GERMAN E-mobility specialist Quantron has announced it is launching its own range of electric buses with the arrival of the electric Quantron 12 m low-floor bus from the end of this year. Quantron says the electric city bus will be offered in two versions with a BEV variant to be available early as the end of this year and a hydrogen FCEV from the second quarter in 2022 with the company claiming that the emission-free BEV-bus will be in a similar price range to conventional diesel buses. Quantron said the buses are being brought to market in close cooperation with its investor and strategic partner Ev Dynamics, a European-Asian consortium of companies specialising in electric and hydrogen-based mobility. The company added that both the batteries from CATL and the fuel cells from Ballard Power come from the world’s leading manufacturers of the respective technologies. “Several thousand buses have already been produced, these have been operating successfully in Asia for years,” said CEO of Ev Dynamics, Miguel Valldecabres Polop. The Quantron fully electric drive for the bus will deliver a maximum output of 250 kW and a range of up to 280 km, targeting daily urban use. The company claims the charging power will be up to 80 kW with a battery capacity of up to 422 kWh, charging via a European standard plug CCS 2 within three to six hours depending on the battery size. The company said the battery system is adapted to respective operational requirements and is compatible with various charging solutions with the city bus capable of being fully recharged overnight. Quantron says the bus has a capacity for up to 95 passengers with in a wide range of specifications and style to meet individual customer requirements.

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New Technology

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he coach standing in front of us is the first of the 44 hydrogen fuel cell buses ordered by Fortescue Mining Group to be put into

service transporting workers around its extensive Pilbara Iron Ore operations around its Cloudbreak and Christmas

Creek mines. While the Fortescue hydrogen bus order

has been public knowledge for some months, as it turned out it was really the tip of the hydrogen iceberg for the quirky WA based billionaire, Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest.

Twiggy has since revealed massive and extremely ambitious plans to de carbonise the business that has made him a multi

billionaire and to take a lead in pulling other businesses, Australia and the World toward a greener hydrogen economy. Anyone who heard Forrest deliver this year’s Boyer lectures on the ABC will know his passion and commitment, to not only rid his businesses of carbon emissions but

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to establish operations that will help other companies do the same. Since then of course Forrest has

With a shiny polished bull bar fitted to protect its front in preparation for its deployment in the ‘wild west’ of the

the country including hydrogen production facilities in Gladstone in Queensland and in Port Kembla in NSW as well as plans to

looks every bit the part of a 50 seat

announced significant projects all around

create a value add ‘Green’ steel operation to turn the iron ore that comes from those Pilbara mines into steel using hydrogen rather than coking coal to fire the blast

furnaces. Ambitious, yes, doable, definitely, and if there is anyone that can make it happen Twiggy is the man.

The bus standing in front of us looks

pretty much the same as any BLK President Coach on the outside, save for the large Hyzon badge on the front just below the windscreen, and the signwriting on the shiny white sides of the sleek coach,

explaining that the bus is powered by hydrogen and that zero emissions is the mission for BLK.

Pilbara, the Hyzon powered BLK President outback coach. Who knows in a few years similar buses could be used to shuttle tourists across our outback with a much

softer footprint than the diesel powered buses that currently fill the roles. Just to rule out any confusion, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are electrically driven

with electric motors that are powered by

batteries. There is nothing that is burned in terms of fuel, the hydrogen is fed into the fuel fell where its reaction with the anode creates electric current that is then used

to charge the batteries. It is a complex yet simple and elegant solution. What that of course means is that for any large vehicle travelling long distances there is no need to have massive banks

of batteries to hold charge and to give the

LIKE ALL ELECTRIC VEHICLES THE SHEER JOY OF THE ELECTRIC DYNAMIC IS THE UNBRIDLED TORQUE FROM START UP

bus the load carrying capacity and range to make it viable. For instance if you look at say Volvo’s FL Electric that was recently

a lot of numbers to crunch that are a bit more complex than working out kilometres per litre and how many passengers you

has two battery packs that weigh 550kg each for a total of 1100kg weight, in a truck with a GVM of 16.5 tonnes overall.

250 to 300 km a day or you are not coming

rolled out with Linfox here in Australia it

The Hyzon BLK hydrogen bus has four 141kw/h battery packs that weigh 221kg

each in a vehicle that weighs 13.9 tonnes. While Volvo quote a range for the FL truck

can carry but if you are doing more than

showing the speed of the electric motor which indicates up to 5000rpm. In the

So here we were with the chance to drive this until now mythical, futuristic beast that

level of hydrogen in the tank, remaining mileage and various battery and motor

a shift then the simple equation is that hydrogen fuel cells are the future.

a little while ago was as technologically exotic as a Saturn V rocket was in the late 1960s. But here it was and all of a sudden

with hydrogen in a matter of moments.

Walk on board and slip behind the wheel and you are faced with a fairly conventional looking dash and controls, at least

There is no need to plug a hydrogen powered electric bus into an external power source, it generates all the electricity to keep that battery pack charged inside that compact fuel cell.

Yes, yes there is a lot to take in there and

surprisingly unlike other electric vehicles we have encountered, there is a tachometer,

back to a base or depot at the end of

of just 200 km, the Hyzon BLK has a notional range of 700km with a hydrogen

tank that weighs 26kg. So the Hydrogen bus has four times the range at around the overall same weight and can be refilled

to the driver. There is still a speedo and odometer and

the future had arrived.

superficially. Look a little closer and it is a

lot more high tech than a traditional diesel powered coach. Instead of an old style analogue display there is a quite sophisticated LED screen that delivers a whole lot of information

middle of the display there is a display that shows such things as battery charge, the

temperatures. There is also a display inside the speedo and tacho indicating air charge for the suspension. All very simple and extremely easy to read and use.

Press the start button, and there is no

whir of the starter, no diesel firing up, no clatter from the engine compartment just an array of lights illuminated on the dash and some chimes. Once the ready light

comes up the driver can select D for drive and away we go. Like all electric vehicles the sheer joy of

the electric dynamic is the unbridled torque

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from start up. As you accelerate away from standstill there is just this silent surge of power that drives the bus down the road. Unlike an electric city bus with a low floor

and sparse insulation with little concern for too much noise suppression, this BLK is a coach designed to cover longer distances on country roads and there is a lot more

insulation. So this is even quieter than the electric city buses we have driven, in some ways similar to the difference between a diesel city bus and a diesel coach.

on and it will keep the batteries topped up until you deplete the hydrogen. Of course the only emission from the fuel cell as it

diesel powered vehicles today. The quiet operation of the BLK Hyzon is almost unnerving , you can hear the wheels

The other vital thing that makes the hydrogen generator such an important factor in future long distance heavy

electric motors are way down the back on the rear axle, you can’t even hear the whir of those as you head down the road.

generates the vital electricity is water.

transport is the fact that the hydrogen fuel tank can be filled in a about the same time it takes to fuel a traditional diesel vehicle. For those that instantly correlate

One could imagine that passengers would

hydrogen with the Hindenberg disaster in New Jersey in 1938 and worry about a

With a range of around 700 km the hydrogen Hyzon BLK, is as we mentioned

used roughly 17 tonnes of hydrogen in a loose silk balloon as the gas used to lift the airship into the sky. As mentioned the

cell up, the bust could travel about 100km on the batteries alone. Switch the fuel cell

to a tank used in LPG fuel vehicles. So fuel security is no more an issue than petrol or

need to hold there voices down while conversing on board a hydrogen bus like this lest everyone on the hears their private chat.

earlier an electric bus that runs primarily on its batteries. In fact without starting the fuel

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disaster with a bus like this, then let us put your mind at rest. Firstly the Hindenberg

Hyzon BLK has a tank that carries 26kg of hydrogen, in a secure tank not dissimilar

rolling on the road and because even the

All too soon our short first drive of the BLK Hyzon fuel cell bus was over and we

were left to try and comprehend al that we had experienced. Driving a hydrogen bus today is something like the experience we had when pocket calculators first hit the scene, or personal

computers and mobile phones. You realise

this is the start of a revolution but you are not quite sure where it will take us. It is exciting, it is adventurous and it is the future and we feel very privileged to have experienced the revolution in its early stages.

All we can say is if this is the future, then bring it on.

Coverstory

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It is fair to say that Volvo Bus has not been at the head of the pack in the mad clamour to bring electric buses to Australian roads, rather it has taken a more considered and reserved approach, fitting for a company which has made its reputation on solid reliability and safety. However with the winds of change howling through the bus depots of this country, even a conservative and considered approach to the zero-emission challenge called for some forward motion. The launch of the new Volvo BZL Electric signals a new era for the Swedish giant and Coach & Bus tuned in for this ground breaking zero emission bus.

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hile some might think Volvo

has been late to the electric

party, the fact is that Volvo has had electric and hybrid diesel electric buses for some time. But the reality is the approach the Swedish company has taken is to make sure it has all of the bases covered and when it did bring an electric bus to Australia, it would

be engineered and designed to cope with the conditions this wide brown land could throw at it. The situation has been made more complex and more urgent by various announcements by governments

around the country, targeting a move to zero emission bus fleets with differing timetables to bring those dreams to reality. So it was that in the midst of lockdowns

around the country that Volvo made

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its first move in the big chess game of

continue as we move forward as well. We

electric bus chassis with an event at its Group HQ in Brisbane. With a gathering of key Queensland industry people and

any kind of race to get this product to market, when some have already put some products onto the market already,” he said.

electric bus rollout, launching its new BZL

customers, and the rest of the industry having to watch on in a virtual world via a streaming broadcast, it was a very important event.

Volvo Bus Australia boss, Mitch Peden hosted the event and was keen to point

out that while the company has adopted that measured approach it is now equipped and ready to go in supplying zero emission

aren’t going to cut any corners either with

“We’ve gone beyond just designing a safe chassis, but also taking safety seriously in every sense, including plans around safe

storage of customer’s data and cybersecurity as well, which we see being very important going forward,” Peden added. The Volvo Bus boss went on to say that

buses down under.

the company had put its money where its mouth is when it comes to safety, working hand-in-hand with TAFE New South Wales

design of the Volvo BZL Electric, and this

drivers, and emergency services personnel that can be accessed across Australia by

“Now is not the time, certainly, to take a backward step,” Peden said. “Safety was and is paramount in the continues to evolve with Volvo, and will

to develop specialist electromobility training modules for technicians, for

key partners and that the company will

“SAFETY WAS AND IS PARAMOUNT IN THE DESIGN OF THE VOLVO BZL ELECTRIC, AND THIS CONTINUES TO EVOLVE WITH VOLVO”

be pleased to provide all access to these

The other factor he pointed out was

training modules on an ongoing basis.

that Volvo has the largest dealer network

chassis well before they receive one from us,” said Peden.

and with the largest dedicated bus team,

“We know our team and our extensive dealer network team Australia-wide will know how to safely work on Volvo BZL

Peden said that the other important thing to

coverage across Australia. “That coupled with our comprehensive parts storage and leading logistics supply chain, serving our customers every day

as Volvo’s unwritten fourth core value. He

with a combined 300 plus years of service, ready as you transition from diesel into these bridge technologies, is very, very

hybrid vehicles for more than a decade and

the move to zero emission, not just in

mention was innovation, which he described pointed out that as an example Volvo has had battery technology running around in its that this is really just the next sensible step for Volvo on its innovation roadmap. As part of furthering its quality service,

Peden indicated that the company now has dedicated competency managers to

assist with the training and transition of its business to these new technologies.

exciting,” he emphasised. Sustainability is another aspect of

eliminating the emissions from the exhaust

pipe and the use of finite resources like fossil fuel, but also in terms of the resources

the Volvo BZL chassis is recyclable, which is a fantastic achievement in getting the

BZL on the road,” said Peden. “We have also focussed on responsible sourcing of materials, including audits of

our supply chains to ensure no products we source are exposed to modern slavery

or or sourced from non-sustainable mining practices, which builds the credibility of Volvo as a trusted, sustainable business partner as we go forward,” he said.

Of course the hot topic when it comes to electric vehicles is batteries and according to Peden, battery management is going to be something that’s going to become very

and chassis.

interesting, and something he says Volvo is taking a holistic view of. “The fact that we will be able to provide

sustainability and more than 90 per cent of

sourcing, the delivery of batteries, their

that go into manufacturing the actual bus “We have taken a holistic view to

a quality assured process around material

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second life and third life plans, and the fact that we can really provide a cradle to grave

automatically set up the bus. Another advanced and nifty feature is the

“It’s exciting that we have entered new partnerships, for instance we’ve just

minimises waste of energy when the bus is out on the road.

quality assured business model for your business will be really important,” he said.

taken delivery of our first fossil fuel free steel, so you get a good handle on where

our business is headed, to drive this sustainability program as we go forward,” he added. Volvo stressed that the BZL Electric is a full flat floor bus with lots of practical and usable space, with the ability to stand up

at the back with hands in the air. Not just that though, it also offers flexibility with the ability to build from 9.95 meters up to 12.5. The company also says it can fit four

batteries in the roof of a 9.95 meter bus and offer a very flexible modular program that enables it to tailor the bus for an operator’s business.

The BZL boasts 400 kilowatts of power in its two electric motors along with some interesting other programs, such as zone management, where the bus can be programmed to align with speeds through zones that can be pre-set, so drivers can’t exceed speed limits in school zones or café strips, and other speed sensitive areas. That is an important safety factor and is a ready to run function, so it can

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Our mission is to deliver complete,

ability for preheating or precooling before the driver guides the bus away, which

transparent, connected, and responsible electric buses around the world, bus systems for true zero cities that you can

Peden points out that Volvo Bus has had 11 years of market leadership in Australia

you should go electric with Volvo. The new Volvo BZL Electric, can be configured with single or twin 200 kilowatt

and that the company doesn’t take the trust of its business partners for granted. “We are doing all we can to make sure that every day we’re bringing good products to market that meet our

rely on today and tomorrow. That’s why

motors coupled to a two speed automated manual gearbox for better acceleration from standstill and better motor speed management at cruising speed. The

customers needs, that understand the

electric drivelines boast maximum wheel torque of either 1900Nm or 3100Nm

uptime results for the business and for passenger and customers as well,”

has been designed for maximum charging flexibility, and will deliver buyers the latest

challenges that they face, and that provide the best return on investment, the best

said Peden.

“Our ambition is to offer the world’s safest electric bus system, ranging from

passenger safety to cyber security. Volvo has been pioneering safety innovations for

almost a century. And in a true zero city, we believe in zero accidents. We work in close cooperation with customers, partners, and cities to ensure the quality, reliability, and efficiency that passengers demand when taking the bus to work, school, or

the cinema. In a true zero city, this means that we also add zero congestion, zero downtime, and zero driver turnover.

depending on whether it is a single or twin motor configuration. The BZL also

connected services through Volvo Connect. In reality Volvo says this has been evolved around listening to its customer’s needs, and paying particular attention to ensuring the buses meet Australian operating requirements while also providing the

strictest European and local safety standards.

The first BZL will be going to Perth for operation on that city’s popular inner city shuttle service called CATS. But as Volvo points out, an electric bus is never a standalone and it’s always part of a system. Volvo says it has implemented electric

bus systems, including charging infrastructure, in a number of cities around

costs, service information, and much, much more is easily and readily revealed.

the batteries we take off the bus as far as recycling goes, because we see, just

“Through experience, we know that you need to work closely with your

sorting patterns to save energy. It offers a whole range of other information and

the sustainability model of your business around disposal of batteries,” he added.

the world , and the company says it knows it takes much more than just delivering great products, although that is a good start.

customers and your partners to tailor each electromobility solution in each individual

city, and you really need to be there onsite, always ready to support, even in the longterm perspective. That’s why I know our customers really appreciate our worldwide service,” said Mitch Peden. “In many ways, our customers put their

trust and their reliability for their operations in our hands and we just can’t fail them. “For us, it’s about delivering zero unplanned downtime, and that’s a huge

responsibility and ultimately, our combined effort is to bring people safely to their destination on time in the most sustainable way possible every day,” Peden added.

The company says its Volvo Connect is all about everything connected online and the daily operation of its buses by customers. The Volvo BZL Electric comes with Volvo Connect as standard and extends a range of information to its customers. For instance if a customer wants to know the health of their fleet then they just have to tap on Volvo connect and reports, driver

If an operator wants to limit speed of a bus then the Volvo Connect offers a zone management system and is optimised for

capabilities to make running a bus service so much easier and information led. “The bottom line is all about creating smart tools that boost your uptime,

productivity, and profitability and the launch of the new Volvo BZL Electric and

as in Europe, over time there will be requirements to show records of where the batteries are going and to be able to show

Peden said that the company has its product team working closely with Bustech and Custom as well, and over time a

school bus chassis will be coming in, with a possible time frame of 12 to 18 months, and

they’ll open up options around those as well.

Volvo Connect a bit later this year are important steps on a journey,” Peden said.

“We’ve uploaded now to panel three in transport for New South Wales, and we will

bit lazy just to throw out one size fits all

emphatically. “So, I guess when we’re talking volume

“It is all about optimising solutions for each individual user, and we’re keen to get into these conversations. I think it’s a little answers, so we’re better than that at Volvo, and we are about tailoring solutions for individual businesses,” he said. “We’re in a position to provide an option

of an energy guarantee out to 20 years, in which we will guarantee the energy usage of the bus, we will change batteries out in line with maintaining the guarantee we provide your business, we’ll be able to have conversations with you around that across any year range from zero to 20 years,” said Peden. “We’ll be technically responsible for

have full supply of chassis come Q4 next year, to hit the road Q1 ‘23,” Peden says

sales, that between now and then, it’s time for customers to start planning

routes, doing site assessments and energy assessments, as well as any infrastructure requirements around that. “I think the time is right for us to start having productive conversations about where our customer’s businesses want to head and our ability to do that with our business partners and body builders that enable us to build products that last the test of time, just as our customers’ have been used to,” said Peden.

“ FOR US, IT’S ABOUT DELIVERING ZERO UNPLANNED DOWNTIME, AND THAT’S A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY”

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Technology

ZERO SUM GAME Electric bus adoption in public transport urban fleet is growing all over the world. It started in China, and it has taken a few years for other regions to start the transition. But now Europe is booming and 2021 will be remembered as the year when electric bus sales volumes experienced definitive ramp up. We take a look at the state of play in the switch to electric buses around the globe.

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lectric bus sales last year in Europe increased by 22 per cent, while purely diesel powered buses decreased almost 10

percentage points from around 82 per cent in 2019 to 72.9 per cent in 2020.

Diesel is still clearly the dominant force when it comes to bus propulsion, but with

drops in market share like the one between 2019 and 2020, along with constantly rising electric bus sales, and the prospect of exponential growth in zero emission in the next five years, it means that the

comprise better than 70 per cent of the global bus fleet and in the shorter term it

for more than 10 per cent of the total annual demand for electric buses globally,

2019 to more than 645,000 units or about 39 per cent of the global municipal bus

In India, the World’s second most populous nation, there were around 70,000

compared with the situation in China which is already home to roughly 94 per cent of the world’s electric buses

430,000 buses sold globally. It doesn’t take much of a leap to figure that if only

is expected that the number of municipal e-buses will rise from 417,000 units in

fleet by 2025. All of that pales into insignificance when

While China and Europe are racing to

which is more than Europe and North America combined.

buses over 6 tonne sold last year, which represents about 16.2 per cent of the

a fraction of those Indian buses were electric it would make a significant dent in global emissions.

Electric buses around the world were

embrace zero emission the bus market in India, which currently accounts for about 75,000 buses a year, boasts enormous

Electric bus sales are starting to ramp up in India but off a very low base. In

the end of 2020. Its predicted that by 2040 e-buses will

market switches to electric. By 2025 the research company Interact Analysis forecasts that India will account

but India will be a key battle ground as

balance is going to shift very quickly.

expected to reduce demand for diesel by approximately 270,000 barrels by

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potential, if even a small portion of the

2017 there were 932 city electric bus sales in India, 1243 units in 2018 and 2600 roughly in 2019. It is a slow burn

IT’S PREDICTED THAT BY 2040 E-BUSES WILL COMPRISE BETTER THAN 70 PER CENT OF THE GLOBAL BUS FLEET electrification takes off there. In the United States current market penetration for electric buses was only about

the USA transit market may be the first

bus market at the end of 2019, with about nine per cent of all transit agencies either

bus adoption, Europe and the United States still have the role of background actors in the electric market.

0.5 per cent of the total U.S. public transit

having electric buses in service or on order. Things are moving fast however, at the end

of 2019 in the US around 450 of the nearly 75,000 municipal buses on the road were e-buses, however that more than doubled by October 2020 when there were slightly more than 1,000 zero-emission buses

deployed across the country. While the rate of increase may have slowed slightly due to COVID, in the long term, the market will continue to grow rapidly and in fact, since

Joe Biden’s election and the administration’s move to zero emission, some believe that

major vehicle market to completely switch to zero emissions vehicles. In this epochal change toward electric

The plans for electrification of Chinese

public transport are really very ambitious, for example, the city of Shenzhen has been committed since 2016 to the goal

of having a 100 per cent electric bus fleet or around 16,500 buses. Similarly the

Chinese capital, Beijing has achieved the goal it announced in 2016 of having10,000 electric buses on its roads by 2020, up from 1320 electric buses when the plan was implemented, that represents a 657 per cent increase in four years.

In China the electric bus market already is growing exponentially, with year-onyear increases of more than 20 per cent in recent years, this despite the overall

Chinese bus market decreasing by around 14 per cent in the same time. It’s not just domestic electric orders that

are keeping Chinese bus makers busy with export markets, including Australia lapping up the Chinese products. The Chinese bus manufacturers seem to be well ahead of the established European bus makers in delivering electric buses. Both BYD and

Yutong as well as other makers have big order books outside China. At next year’s Football World Cup in Qatar spectators will be ferried around

the venues on a fleet of more than 1000 Yutong battery electric buses, which was

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the Chinese bus maker’s largest ever order when it was placed by the Qatari government back in 2020.

The Netherlands appears to be the epicentre of electric bus adoption in Europe and given much of the low lying country has already been claimed back from the North Sea its vulnerability to

rising sea levels is probably a major driver. Holland is now leading Europe on electric bus adoption and has been for the past half a decade. In 2015, bus operators and the Netherlands government came to an agreement that decreed that all new

buses would be emission free from 2025

onwards. By early 2020 around 10 per cent of the Dutch fleet was already electrified, however this rapid growth has brought several challenges and opportunities.

At the end of 2018, the largest fleet of electric buses in Europe was operated by a Transdev subsidiary around Amsterdam’s Schipol airport with a fleet of 100 VDL electric buses, which went into service

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on 1 April 2018. The order of electric buses for the airport‘s electric bus fleet is still the largest single order for VDL Bus & Coach, and is the largest electric bus fleet within a single operation in Europe. The 100 articulated e-buses collectively cover up to 30,000 km per day and the batteries are charged in 20 minutes or less at charging points along the route, allowing 24-hour service. Downtown Amsterdam’s city centre

is also an electric bus early adoption point with around another 100 electric passenger buses ferrying people around the Netherland’s largest metropolis,

following a deal signed in December 2018, again with VDL Bus & Coach. Underlining VDL’s dominance of the electric bus space in its home country, the

buses coming on stream since 2018.

Across the English Channel Electric bus

fleets in the UK are also embracing the

electric revolution, with urging from the

government and with incentives and funds to bring on the zero emission moves.

Giant British operator Stagecoach is making large scale electric bus investment, budgeting close to $AUD80

million (£56million), with $AUD30 million of that coming from the British government, and the company putting the up the rest. All of the UK’s major cities, along with most of the smaller ones, are focussing on electric buses, whether pure battery or hydrogen fuel cell machines. London, Manchester, Glasgow,

Newcastle, and Bristol all have major electric bus projects either operating or

company has also supplied electric buses to

rolling out in coming months. In Manchester, in the epicentre of the

public transport operator, RET since the end of 2019, with another 100 electric

been introduced in the past two years, with Stagecoach investing $AUD64

the port city of Rotterdam, with 55 electric buses being purchased by the Rotterdam

grimy Northern industrial heartland, 105 new electric double decker buses have

million (£34.6m) in the project, which was backed by Greater Manchester Council, Transport for Manchester and other key organisations. Up the road and across the border in Glasgow, electric buses started hitting the streets in early 2019. However the leader of the transition

to electric buses in the UK is really the Capital, London.

contracting to buy electric buses, the rollout is continuing apace. BYD and ADL have been working

together as key suppliers to the various transport companies in metropolitan

London, and most importantly have worked

together with strategic partner SSE, to transform the historic Shepherds Bush depot in West London into an advanced,

Of course Volvo is in a joint venture with Europe’s other dominant commercial vehicle maker Daimler, to commercialise hydrogen fuel cell technology for trucks and buses and Daimler is also moving strongly to make all of its bus offerings zero emission as soon as possible,

both with its Mercedes-Benz brand and

city’s first zero emission bus garage.

with its Thomas Bus brand in the USA and North America. Daimler also has a key shareholding in US battery and

deckers which for years have belched diesel exhaust as they rattled around the narrow streets, is rapidly transitioning to

the goal is clear, transition to electric, and do it fast. Volvo Bus has been a little late to the

playing a key role in the German giant’s journey to zero. The eCitaro, was Mercedes-Benz’ first

According to London’s plans, by 2037 all buses in the city, about 8,000 in total, will be zero-emission. That figure is either

accelerate hard to meet its corporate goal of having zero emission making up half its annual production by 2030 and 100 per

The crowded and bustling metropolis known for its trademark red double

zero emission.

not very ambitious or is more realistic than Sydney’s goal of replacing its similar sized bus fleet by 2030. With various private operators now contracted to supply bus services to various parts of the city, and each

smart electric bus operations centre, the

Amongst the World’s leading bus makers

party but expect the Swedish giant to

cent by 2040. The recent launch of the BZL Electric

here in Australia is an example of how Volvo is taking the bull by the horns and really moving swiftly to go electric, quickly and efficiently.

electrification start up Proterra which is

battery electric bus, when it entered series

production at the end of 2018. The electric Citaro uses ZF’s electric portal axle AxTrax and features an innovative thermal management and has won a swathe of orders from key markets across Europe

in the past three years. Citaro’s width is 10 cm too wide for current Australian Design and registration

rules, a factor that pretty much precluded

www.truckandbus.net.au 033

the roll out of its diesel powered versions here. Daimler Australia has admitted now that it is focussing on getting the eCitaro endorsed for Australia and skipping over the diesel version, which hopefully may come with an overhaul of our road rules, something that has been under consideration for more than a decade,

which is a disgrace in real terms. Spanish bus maker Irizar can claim to

have built the first European manufacturing plant totally dedicated to electromobility with electric bus production.

The 18.000 square metre factory situated on four hectares, near the Northern Spanish city of San Sebastian, is where Irizar is making all its electric vehicles and parts.

Irizar has proved to be an ambitious and strong competitor in bus manufacturing and supply not just in Europe but across the globe, winning a range of electric bus supply contracts across Euro markets

and is sure to be a challenger in Australia, where former Iveco executive Steve Heanes has been appointed as general manager. The other key German based

manufacturer, MAN is also advancing its

034 www.truckandbus.net.au

electric bus ambitions via its Lion City E, which was shown for the first time at the Hanover Commercial Vehicle Expo in 2018. The Lion City E has since won a number of key sales across Europe and

workforce of 420 people. Its 12-metre GX 337 Electric and articulated GX 437 use asynchronous central electric motors built by the English defence and aviation specialist BAE.

640 kWh articulated versions, and the VW Traton owned brand believes that 66 per cent of the world’s scheduled-service

electric bus manufacturing is Polish based but Spanish owned Solaris Bus & Coach.

Scandinavia with its 480 kWh single and

A Euro bus brand that is little known in Australia but is still one Europe’s leaders in

buses will be electric by 2030. MAN’s Swedish VW Traton sibling, Scania

The company, claims to be the European market leader for electric buses selling

The Scania electric bus has also started to win orders around the globe, including

The innovative Polish brand unveiled its first electric intercity bus, the Urbino 15 Low Entry Electric based on a

French based Iveco bus subsidiary Heuliez Bus, which has been renamed Iveco e-Way, is a major presence in

technology, breaking the almost total focus most electric bus makers have on city bus operations and it is now being

also unveiled its first electric bus at the Hanover show three years ago , where the Scania Citywide LF electric was revealed.

naturally enough in its native Sweden.

Europe, has won a number of key orders for its e buses, including one of the

Continent’s largest electric bus contracts so far, in Paris.

From its manufacturing plant in Rorthais, in France it has been producing both electric and hybrid buses with its

457 electric in 2020, an increase of around 187 per cent on its 2019 numbers.

platform designed exclusively for electric

rolled out across Euro markets.

So from this quick snapshot of the current electric bus state of play it can be seen that the focus across the globe is on a relatively quick changeover from internal combustion

to largely electric operations. Strap

yourselves in, it’s going to be a wild ride.

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Operator

ON THE BENZ OF THE MURRAY For most it would be a big jump from the shearing sheds of western NSW to running a thriving bus operation in the town of Tocumwal, but for Mark Baldwin that is exactly what he did, trading the hard yakka of shearing for the easier but often logistically challenging business of operating buses. We dropped by Baldwins to take a look at the operation.

he writing was clearly on the corrugated iron walls of the shearing sheds for Mark Baldwin

in the late 1990s and he was keen to find a better way to make a quid than the tough business of shearing sheep. “I’d spent most of my life in shearing sheds and it was, well... I needed to get what I call a ‘get out of jail card’,” said Mark Baldwin.

“So I looked around for quite a while and in our town here, then one of my mate’s in-laws had three school buses and they were looking to sell them and I went and approached them and it really went from there,” said Mark Baldwin.

Today Baldwins Buses is very much a family affair that involves Mark, his

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wife Lisa, their daughter Eliza and her partner, Lachie, and now involves a fleet of 18 buses, with 15 school runs and three

charter buses. Not bad for an operation that started in 2002 with just three school runs. Lisa worked the business for the first few years, managing the three buses and the

school runs until an opportunity popped up in 2006 when another operation came up for sale, which he saw as a good prospect, with six contracts and another ten buses. “Then a couple of years later, we bought another company that was out of town in Barooga which had five buses, three with school run contracts, and then we bought another one in town in 2013. “That’s how we put four or five small

family businesses together and made them

into one business,” he added. The Baldwins fleet is mainly MercedesBenz based, along with some Fuso Rosas from the same Daimler stable. There are eight Mercedes Benz in total, including

four XCs, two 500R and two 500 RF models as well as four Fuso Rosas. The rest of the fleet includes four Scanias and a couple of BCIs.

The attraction for the Benz brand started following an approach from Benz bus salesperson, Cam Cuthberston, who

introduced Mark Baldwin to Mercedes. “Cam knocked on our door and introduced us to them, then we took

a look at the product, test drove them,

and we thought we would give them a try,” said Mark.

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“The more we had to do with Mercedes Benz, the more we liked them, particularly with the servicing and the back-up that was provided.”

“Cam Cuthbertson along with Paul Kennedy, have made us big fans of the Mercedes brand, but also with the Fuso Rosas. “Nothing ever seems to be a problem,

they ring you up to make sure everything is all right and if we’ve got an issue they point us in the right direction and away we go,” Mark explained. At this point Eliza’s partner Lachie

Mark’s daughter Eliza, joined the family business after completing an accounting

proved a headache. “Our cross-border operations during

and Lachie decided it was time to come home to Tocumwal in 2015 and become

often shut so quickly,” Mark said. “We have four buses that normally cross

degree at Charles Sturt University in Albury, where she met her partner Lachie. Eliza

a part of Baldwins. “Lachie and I met when he was in the

army based in Albury, where he worked as a mechanic. He was then posted to Adelaide so we moved there and I worked in the Defence Bank using my accounting

McDonald, explains that the Rosas are an important part of the school bus fleet with

and business admin skills,” explained Eliza. “I came home about six months before Lachie, but it was always part of the plan

“We’ve Got a couple that go down dirt roads, and they handle it well we don’t

a part of Baldwins Buses,” she said. Like just about every part of the country, the Covid crisis has thrown up a lot of

about them and from a service point of view there’s not to do to them, they’re

in towns sitting right on those borders, like Baldwins in Tocumwal, it has meant access

their ability to cope with tough conditions in the bush.

have too many issues with the Rosas, we do our pre-departure checks and forget

a nice sturdy bus,” said Lachie.

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for him to leave the army and come and be

challenges, not the least of which has been border closures, and for companies based

across the Murray River into Victoria has

COVID have been fairly difficult during the last 18 months, both having them shut and

the border each day, which has obviously been quite problematic,” he added. The other challenge during Covid has been the logistics chain and being able to get parts support from manufacturer warehouses usually based in Sydney

or Melbourne. “The bus body builders are a long way from here and while they used to come down whenever needed to sort out an

issue that hasn’t been possible because of Covid and for them to come down here it’s a fair commitment,” said Eliza.

In that regard the Baldwins also value their relationship with body builder Express Coach Builders in Macksville on the NSW mid-north coast, which has supplied a number of its recent buses.

“ THE MORE WE HAD TO DO WITH MERCEDES BENZ, THE MORE WE LIKED THEM, PARTICULARLY WITH THE SERVICING AND THE BACKUP THAT WAS PROVIDED”

“Mercedes-Benz field service manager, Andrew McClelland also comes down with our deliveries and makes sure everything’s right. If we’ve had anything going on with any of the Mercedes

vehicles, he’s fixed them up or helped

out, and we’re really lucky he’s so good, to be honest,” Eliza added “We have a really good relationship with

“It used to mean we could ring up and

order a part in the morning and receive it potentially the next morning or afternoon, which was great, but we just have to wait a bit longer now, however the bottom line

is any requirements we’ve ever had from Mercedes Benz, has just been excellent to be truthful,” Mark explained. Eliza added that the back-up and customer

Tocumwal, because it is a bit of a retirement-oriented town, so in regards to getting staff, we’ve probably got it pretty good compared to other areas because

everyone’s retired and there are a lot of people happy to do a bit of casual work,” said Eliza.

“It’s only a couple of hours a day, and it’s

service from Mercedes-Benz has been

not every day of the year, you have school holidays and so on, so it’s a pretty good deal,” she adds.

Mark said. “So if you have a major issue, which I

“Yeah, the Mercedes customer service is really good. I know that they go over it and if they have any problems, they sort it out

Eliza and her partner Lachie are in the office 90 per cent of the time, while Mark and Lisa also work in the business. There

with parts occasionally, but that is because of the restrictions on delivery and freight.

don’t deliver it and say, ‘we’ll fix this later’. It’s all done beforehand, which is great,” she said.

handling all the maintenance and repairs and a full-time bus washer keeping all the vehicles sparkling.

Andrew as well as Mercedes-Benz product

manager, Peter Angus so, we’ve pretty much got a direct line to him and there just doesn’t seem to be any issues with them,”

really don’t think we have had... it is fixed very quickly. The only holdups have been

“We used to have parts flown directly into Tocumwal airport, which we are quite close to, in fact you can see it from where we are here, but Toll have stopped the daily freight flight.”

exceptional and that issues are rare because of good prep and attention to detail.

before anything turns up to us, and they

Baldwins currently has a staff of 25 including a crew of casual drivers, which

they have no trouble recruiting because of the nature of Tocumwal, and its population. “We’re really lucky being based in

Along with the crew of casual drivers

are also two mechanics in the workshop

“Eliza, Lachie, Lisa and me all work as relief drivers as well, as does one or our mechanics, and all of our drivers work with each other to manage retirement priorities, like golf tournaments and so on,“ Mark laughs.

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“ WE’VE GOT BASICALLY A NEW FLEET AND THAT GIVES US GREAT SECURITY WITH THE MACHINERY AND GOOD BACKUP FOR THE MANUFACTURERS,”

“Some of the drivers only want to work two days a week which is fine, because

things that have come up since the last meeting that we feel we need to discuss or

and obviously a lot of attention on safety

so they can play their golf and bowls and whatever else they need to be doing at that age, it’s quite a nice retirement job and it

South Wales or Transport for New South Wales,” she added. “So we can catch up with our drivers

said Mark. “We have recently had our HVIS

some guys can swap runs with other guys,

pays well,” Mark adds. Eliza adds that they can’t schedule

driver meetings for Wednesdays because there’s a regular mid-week golf comp on Wednesdays. “You have to be careful about when

you call meetings to fit in with the driver’s commitments, but we do have regular meetings to keep everyone on the same

page, we just had what we call our regular

anything that’s come down from Bus New

and they’re all up to date, if it’s urgent, everyone gets an email on the day with

any updates, but if it’s something we can do as a team together, we save it for the

meeting,” she said. Asked what the biggest challenge. For a

country bus operator is , the Baldwins have a bit of a laugh and cite naughty kids and parents. “Not really, our naughty kids are very

toolbox meeting,” said Eliza. “We get them all together and we just talk about the latest safety issues, compliance

different to city naughty kids,” Mark adds with a laugh.

what needs to be covered, such as drugs and alcohol policy, any issues on the runs or road maintenance requests, any training

The thing that really comes through with the Baldwins is the importance of safety

matters etc and make sure they all know

things, and then we run through any safety

040 www.truckandbus.net.au

with drivers. “Oh my word, yes, safety is the key,”

inspections here and they’re all done in our yard through Transport New South Wales, and everything, out of all the 18 buses, we didn’t have anything flagged issues at

all, not even a light out on a bus, which is really, really very important to us,” he said. “They come in here with a shaker and put all the buses across the shaker and all

came through with flying colours, but when you’ve got confidence in your vehicles then it is not a problem,” he added.

The Baldwins fleet is in pretty good shape

“We’re probably a bit lucky here, we don’t have any super major issues really,” he said.

in terms of bus age, thanks to the recent Mercedes Benz purchases, including the latest one arriving in the middle of the year,

to the entire operation, with the latest Mercedes Benz buses, good equipment

“We’ve got basically a new fleet and that gives us great security with the machinery

and now they will not have to look at any new buses for the next few years.

and good backup for the manufacturers,” said Mark

operator to use, they’re relatively easy to work on, and from my side of it, they’ve got

side of things because of COVID and the lockdowns, we did have a fair bit of work

side and it is really good with the new technologies within the buses as well,” Lachie added.

around our small communities,” he added. The company covers an area roughly 100 km around Tocumwal heading north to

with Victoria when we were doing police transfers, which was quite good for a while, but our three charter buses have been

“It’s really handy on the mechanical

“It’s also been quite good with the seat belt situation as well, we’ve only had one

bus that has had to be retro fitted out of our whole fleet, everything else we had was either reasonably new or was older and had to be replaced, which they have been now,” he said. Baldwins had to recently go out and purchase a new ‘secondhand’ Fuso Rosa to add to its fleet after an older Toyota Coaster it had was crushed and badly damaged in a storm. “Luckily there was no one in it when

it happened, which was good. We took

the opportunity to replace it with a Rosa because they are our preferred option in Cat 2,” said Lachie.

“The Rosas are just a simple bus for the

25 seats, which is a great size, especially

Finley and Berrigan, east to Barooga, south across the Murray to pick up Victorian based students as well as heading out west to pick up from smaller settlements along the Murray. As life slowly crawls out of Covid

lockdowns and the numerous restrictions we have had as a result of the Pandemic, the Baldwins are starting to see the green shoots of business recovery reveal

themselves, with some new booking for charter work set for the next few months. Just lately, we’ve had a couple of phone calls for a couple of charter jobs coming

closer to Christmas, which is good. Good to get those buses out and doing a bit,” Mark tells us. “It’s been a bit quiet with the charter

when New South Wales closed the border

sitting for a couple of years, basically, but they’re backup buses anyway, so it will be good to have them back out earning their keep,” he added. Mark Baldwin reckons the family run operation is a nice business and despite

being ‘gazumped on the finishing line after a handshake and an agreement’, having had a couple of goes at buying other companies, he reckons things are pretty

settled at the moment. “We like where we are at the moment and reckon we’ve got a nice business at the moment so we will keep doing what we are doing and consolidate,” said Mark.

“Eliza and Lachie are doing a great job and

with our fleet of Mercedes Benz buses we are in a good place, I reckon,” he concluded.

www.truckandbus.net.au 041

Operator

042 www.truckandbus.net.au

www.truckandbus.net.au 043

t is kind of ironic that safety was at

the heart of bus operator Harry Miller

taking one of the biggest risks of his life and has resulted in building and maintaining a 16 bus fleet in a little over five years. Based at the picturesque town and

quaintly named town, The Rock, about 40 kilometres south of Wagga Wagga, Harry

Miller and his wife, Petra operate a thriving bus service which has grown around school bus runs and is now branching out into charter operations.

Back in 2005 Harry was the operations manager for a large bus service but differing views on safety and procedures

saw him resign and rather than just going back to his trade as a mechanic, he and

Petra Decided to take a chance and bought a small school bus run in The Rock. “Safety is important, definitely, we’re very,

044 www.truckandbus.net.au

very safety conscious here, we operate our

purchasing one of the runs with the option of buying the other two. That was 2005 and Harry and his wife haven’t looked back.

his apprenticeship in the business under

initially I went out driving trucks for a couple

priority,” said Harry Miller.

“During year two we bought the second school run, and in the third year we bought the other one, and from then it wasn’t long

own workshop with two mechanics. I’m a mechanic myself, but I’ve stepped away from that area and my son is now doing the mechanic and he’s now just finishing his third year. So we service all our buses here at the main workshop and safety is a

“As far as I am concerned, safety is an issue for the students we transport, for the drivers and all of our staff,” Harry explained. “Where I worked with the bus company

in Wagga I sort of had a conflict with the owners and I didn’t see eye to eye on some safety issues, and when I bought them up they didn’t like it, so I decided to leave,”

he adds. That move saw Harry enter negotiations with a chap he knew in The Rock who had three school bus runs and it resulted in

“We bought the first school bus run and

of years and my wife ran the first school bus run,” Harry explained.

‘til we bought two school bus runs based

in Narrandera, then about a year after that, around 2009, we bought two more runs based down the road in Henty.

In fact by the end of 2010, Harry and …. had built the fleet to 16 buses servicing the

11 school bus runs they still operate today. Like any business it was a learning process

and while some of the buses were inherited and some choices didn’t prove to be the best Harry reckons he has now knows the

right choice for his bigger buses.

They were humble beginnings for the

Millers, with a single Toyota Coaster bus but today the pride of the 16 bus fleet company are three of the latest Scanias.

“I think buying the Scanias underlines just how important safety is for us, they are the latest and safest buses we could source,” said Harry.

“The Scanias replaced three King Long buses, which weren’t all that good, but we are very happy with the Scanias, they’re very good vehicles. “The Scanias have three different bodies on them, unfortunately, but it’s a bit of a

test on the bodies to see which one suits our business the best, so we’ve got a Volgren bodied Scania, an Irizar bodied version and our newest one is a Scania Touring, with the Scania body built in China,” he added.

Amongst the fleet of CAT 4 larger

buses including the three newer Scanias,

Millers still has a 2008 Iveco Delta, a 2009 Daewoo and an MAN 18.280 also from 2009. The remainder Harry confesses that with 11 school contracts they grew really fast but got

themselves fairly well placed, and that he often pinches himself and wishes he’d done it earlier.

Millers now employs a total staff of 20 with 16 drivers and four based in the depot at Rock, two in the office and two in the workshop.

The 16 buses fleet is spread out around the neighbouring areas of the Riverina in total, with three buses at The Rock, two

down in Henty, two across in Narrandera, three bus runs over at Ladysmith and one at Cookardinia. “All of our runs are within an hour’s

reach of the main depot here in The Rock, which means the logistics operation stay manageable.” “That way it’s easy for maintenance and if we do have a breakdown, we have two

breakdown vehicles based here, which are

fully stocked with equipment and they can just get up and go.” While the business is still based around its

daily school bus runs Harry says the charter business is now playing a greater role. “We now have some permanent charters with a major boarding school in Wagga, which sees us transport the weekly boarders home on Fridays and we bring

them back on Sunday, and, we’ve now got three buses running on that job,” said Harry. “We actually started doing that work

about 15 years ago, starting with a run from Wagga to Lake Cargellico and now we also do runs to Griffith and Tumut,” he added.

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Harry’s background as a diesel mechanic means he has a strong insight into what works with buses and what doesn’t and also made him even more of a fan of the Scania buses he has added to the fleet in recent times.

“The Scania’s are very well engineered and

handle the conditions out here extremely well, particularly all the dirt roads that we have to travel on,” said Harry.

“Mate we haven’t looking back with Scania, it’s the best move I ever made

to go to Scania. Previously we had King Longs, which I was pretty disappointed in. But yeah look, the Scanias as far as I’m concerned are great buses, the

maintenance on them is minimal and the after-sale service and the local dealer in Wagga is fantastic.” Harry says his driver’s also love the

Scanias and that the added bonus for him has been the driver training Scania provides.

“Well if they have been driving the Scania’s then you just about have to prise them out of the buses every afternoon, everyone loves them,” he reckons. “The other good thing with Scania is they have driver training, so with all the buses that we have bought, we’ve had a driver trainer come to us and take all the

drivers out and explain all the features of

046 www.truckandbus.net.au

the buses to them and teach them how to

get the most out of driving them, so that is another big plus for Scania on that side of it,” said Harry. Harry reckons that as the other nonScania Cat 4 buses in the fleet come due

for replacement they will be traded for new Scanias. “Yeah definitely going to buy more Scania’s for the Cat four runs, but we’re

still not sure what we’re going to do with the smaller Cat two buses, because Scania doesn’t make the smaller buses and there’s no one really out there at the moment, apart from Fuso Rosa, and Higer. Harry says he hasn’t been happy with the Rosas mainly because they struggle to

cope with the often rough gravel roads that are part of many of the country school runs.

“As soon as I can get rid of them the better, I just get they’re a very low end

vehicle and the suspension in them is not up to the task and parts are very expensive

for them as well,” he said. “We’re on dirt roads with all of our smaller buses, sure some of the bigger ones go on dirt as well, but the Rosas just tend to get pounded on the dirt roads,” he added. Harry is very pleased his son is doing

his apprenticeship in the business and is interested very interested in the business

as well.

“So we’ve got a bit of a plan for if and when I ever retire,” Harry said with a chuckle.

In terms of future growth for the business,

Millers have been happy to consolidate in recent years but with the recent flow of Sydney siders moving out of the city for a country tree change during Covid there has been strong growth that may lead to expansion in the near future. “There’s definitely growth, particularly

out on Ladysmith runs we’ve had that fairly quick growth out there and I can see there’s other small bus runs around this area that I’m interested in,” said Harry.

“So we’re not sitting still with what we’ve

got, we are looking at expanding a bit further. “Problem is there is no real alternative to them at the moment in the 24 seater realm, Toyota Coaster, I suppose, but they don’t sell the 24 seater here, they do have them in

Japan, but they won’t bring them over here.” Harry says he is looking further afield, to things like the Isuzu I-BUS and the Higers are not a bad vehicle although we do have a lot of dust problems with them, but with the Cummins and the Allison drive line in them, they have been a good option, but I am not sure they’re bringing the small Higer here anymore.

“ THE SCANIA’S ARE VERY WELL ENGINEERED AND HANDLE THE CONDITIONS OUT HERE EXTREMELY WELL, PARTICULARLY ALL THE DIRT ROADS THAT WE HAVE TO TRAVEL ON”

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Road Test Here at Coach & Bus we have been trying to get behind the wheel of Volkswagen’s locally converted Crafter mini-bus since they launched the concept back in pre-Covid days in February 2020. We finally had the chance recently, and came away impressed with a mini-bus that is sure to find a niche, particularly in the tourism/shuttle/transfer market.

048 www.truckandbus.net.au

www.truckandbus.net.au 049

ack in 2019 Volkswagen made a very deliberate decision to

chase a larger share of the light commercial ready to work market after unveiling a program to deliver a range

of factory approved bodies and conversions available as a complete package ready to

Volkswagen has realised that there is some

mini-bus sales in between the nine seat

to win a share of the light bus market.

conversion partner Amtek, a company that

strong demand in the mini-bus and fleet market and unveiled two versions of its Crafter, ready for passenger carrying duties

go from its dealer network.

This means that like its Euro van counterparts from the likes of Mercedes Benz, Iveco and Renault, Volkswagen

the German maker’s line up of custom commercials our particular focus was the

sits alongside the smaller but still versatile and flexible Transporter model including

When Coach & Bus attended VW Australia HQ for the media briefing on

Crafter mini-bus offering, and we were pretty keen to sample it. We just didn’t

realise that the imminent pandemic would hold things up quite this long. For the bus market specifically

050 www.truckandbus.net.au

offers both a 12 or a 15 seat mini bus conversion on the Crafter. This of course

its top of the line Caravelle, which has found favour with some bus operators in

small luxury transfers and transport duties. Volkswagen’s belief is that it wants a piece of what it sees as a growing market for

Transporter and the likes of the 24 seat Fuso Rosa/Toyota Coaster. The Crafter mini-bus is finished locally by is highly skilled and has a track record in a range of van conversions, most particularly ambulances, as the name would suggest. The Crafter Minibus came through an Australian tender process which was won by Amtek, which is based in the Sydney suburb of Revesby, and is an Australian

owned and operated company with operations in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Amtek has traditionally specialised in building bespoke, customised,

CLIMB ABOARD THE CRAFTER AND SLIP BEHIND THE WHEEL AND YOU ARE PRESENTED WITH A CLEAN AND VERY GERMANIC COCKPIT, THAT IS REALLY NICELY FINISHED, BUT VERY MINIMALIST. WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FANS OF THE CRAFTER.

engineered vehicle solutions for clients mostly government departments, such

as emergency services like ambulance services, police, fire and rescue and the Traffic Management Centre as well as

State Emergency Service. As well as those other clients include ADHC retirement and nursing homes, special needs schools, the mining industry, tourism and education where the skills of converting vans to passenger carrying mini -buses were developed and honed.

The Crafter based bus is available in

medium-and long-wheelbase, all equipped with the eight-speed torque converter

auto, along with additional air-conditioning and heating in the rear passenger area

along with a luggage compartment in the rear. Factory options include satellite-

navigation, LED headlights, trendline pack, and driver assist. The 4Motion (12 seat MWB version can be fitted with a rear diff-lock and downhill

assist as well as an electric step available on the front drive and cargo barrier on both versions as well as window tint and off-

repair available through its network of around 100 dealers nationally.

The vehicle we drove in our test was the 12 seater MWB but without the 4 Motion, so it was a front drive version, which given our test time was in Sydney suburbia even in wet weather, did the job superbly.

The Crafter mini-bus converted locally

road componentry. Our view is that while the 4 Motion Crafter mini-bus will cope

comes with an off the shelf recommended retail price of $68,690. However our test vehicle also was equipped with an electric

we wouldn’t be heading out across the Simpson Desert in one.

electrically operated self-stowing side-step. Those two options add $3880 and $2000 respectively, which along with window tint

with some marginal conditions on made gravel roads and in slippery conditions,

The conversions are fully approved and warranted by Volkswagen with service and

automatic sliding door and an automatic

at $960, gave the test Crafter an all up recommended price tag of $75,230.

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For that it is a very nice package and for the purposes of our test we gathered together a cohort of friends for a Sunday afternoon tour around some boutique breweries on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Normally when testing buses it is difficult to assemble a group large enough to make the exercise a true test of the vehicle’s capabilities. This time we did and it was well worth the effort.

Climb aboard the Crafter and slip behind the wheel and you are presented with a clean and very Germanic cockpit, that is really nicely finished, but very minimalist. We have always been fans of the Crafter mainly because, of all the vans in this

sector of the market we reckon the VW has the best and simplest cockpit and driving position. We once drove one across the Nullarbor over several days, covering

lots of kilometres in a camper van version and found the Crafter to be an eminently enjoyable van to steer for hours on end.

The latest version is even better. Apart from anything else it has a dash with lots of storage nooks, shelves and pockets, with a very clean and easy to read dash. There are two big gauges, with a speedo and a tacho dominating the instrument panel,

with a temp and fuel gauge inset in the larger dials. In between is an LED screen that offers a range of information including fuel consumption, range, external temp

and a bunch of other data. The steering wheel is a really nice size and because of its excellent steering response can be smaller than a lot of

wheels that other makers serve up in similar sized vehicles. This one has a flat

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bottom and has a nice feel to it, as well as having controls for the audio system along with cruise control and the ability to scroll through the dash info. Across to the left of the wheel is the very simple dash mounted gear lever for the eight speed auto, with a simple three knob control panel for heating and air conditioning alongside. If only more automotive designers realise that simple

controls like the ones in the Crafter are better than complex systems on touchscreens, that are nigh on impossible

to use while piloting 12 passengers down a motorway at 100km/h! Above that is one of VW’s excellent audio

head units with a touch screen and both a volume and tuning knob, again making it easier to control while driving the bus. The audio system is very good with excellent

sound, and featuring AM/FM/Bluetooth and cable connected Apple Carplay/Android Auto interface. The front row of seats includes an

individual bucket for the driver along with a double passenger seat, while there are

three rows of seats behind this, with a row of three buckets, ahead of two seats in the next row, with four seats across the back. All are seat belt equipped. Behind the back row of seats is a large

and flat floored 2.53 cubic metres of

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luggage/cargo space, which is easily

accessed via the two large rear barn doors that swing open to deliver easy loading and unloading. The only thing we believe the luggage area lacks is some tie down

passengers to enjoy conversations with each other and across the cabin, while there were a number of compliments about the audio system. The dynamics of the Crafter are excellent

points to secure the luggage, but that is a minor point. Access for the bus passengers is via the electrically operated automatic side door.

with great steering feel, very sure footed

door slides magically out of the way, the side step pops out from under the side

there is a suite of safety features as standard, including Front Assist with City Emergency Braking, Driver Fatigue

Pull the handle and the door will slide back delivering extremely easy access for all rows of seats. At the same time as the

sill giving passengers an easier step up from the kerbside. The door can also be

activated remotely by the driver allowing the door to be opened or closed without the driver leaving the cockpit. With nine people on board the Crafter proved more than willing. The two litre turbo TDI410 Diesel delivers 410Nm of

power and 130kW of torque which is more than adequate and does the job very nicely. The Crafter blasts away from the lights with ease, not only staying with the traffic, but easily out distancing them with strong torque and nice shifts from the auto. The other significant feature for a

van based mini-bus was the quiet and peaceful environment for passengers while travelling. It was easy for

and precise handling along with tremendous brakes, all coupled with that spirited and torquey two litre turbo and eight speed auto means the Crafter mini-bus makes the job easier for any driver.

As you would expect from a Volkswagen,

Detection, Multi-Collision Brake and Hill

Hold Assist, as well as Adaptive Cruise Control and Active Lane Keep Assist. We’d love to have the Volkswagen Crafter Mini-bus for a longer driver because not only do we enjoy driving this terrific van,

but our passengers loved riding in it and praised its comfort and amenities. With a competitive price, strong comfort and ride and a lot of flexibility thanks to

its options of either 12 or 15-seat version, front drive or the 4Motion variants, and with excellent performance, we reckon

Volkswagen is on a winner with the Crafter Mini-Bus. Let’s hope the wait to drive it again is not further interrupted by a pandemic.

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LCV

ut the world has changed

and thank heavens it has. A lot of that change has been precipitated by mandated safety

and crash governments that recognised

that just because you’re a delivery driver, tradie, or a mini-bus pilot, your life and safety is not worth less than that of people

in passenger cars and SUVs. So that leads us to the latest offering from Hyundai, in the form of its futuristically styled Staria people mover/mini bus, a vehicle that is actually based on the Korean maker’s excellent Sante Fe SUV model and which delivers great handling, safety and creature comforts. The Staria has since been joined by its commercial van sibling the Staria Load

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(which we will test and appraise at a later

date), with the two new models replacing the popular, accomplished and successful iLoad and iMax. The iMax and iLoad are very different to

the new Staria family, even though they were very good and capable vans that

did the job very well. The dynamics of the Staria are a whole lot better thanks to the

SUV based platform as well as benefitting from the ability to offer a choice of either 2WD or all wheel drive spec.

We cannot tell you how many times

during our week with the Staria that random people would come up to us and ask ‘what is this? Wow it looks like a space ship!’.

It was a very interesting insight into how people react to new and fresh design.

It has sloping, wedge shaped front,

with smooth faired in lines, LED light strip

running around the front of the grille and a sharply raked screen. The frontal design then meets the low window line of the

side windows, which quite literally deliver panoramic views for the occupants. Then at the rear there are long LED light strips

running vertically down each corner adding to that futuristic image. It is certainly different, and in a good way in our view. Hyundai has also clearly put a lot of effort into the engineering of the Staria and not just plopped a futuristic looking body on a van platform. Not only does the engineering of the Staria offer a variety of drive options on

the Santa Fe platform, but it also means

There was a time, not that long ago, when commercial vans and the people mover/ mini-bus variants based on them, were utilitarian, noisy, ill handling, workhorses with barely any creature comforts or concessions to the conveniences we have come to expect in cars and even trucks. We take a look at Hyundai’s latest people mover offering the Staria, which reverses all of those old van vices

it delivers a lot of safety and handling

wipers, proximity key entry, keyless

bells and alerts for a range of minor

Staria range lined up to test drive in the

steering wheel, seating capacity for eight

which for a vehicle of this size and application

adjustment and six-speaker stereo. The Staria hasn’t yet been tested by

What it does boast in the safety department is a full compliment of the latest and greatest safety tech and

those ratings, it is unlikely Hyundai would

front, front-side, front-centre and curtain bags on both the A and B pillars. Along with that, they also boast tech features

that gives a lot of weighting to warning

detection and junction assist, Blind-spot assist, Lane-keep assist, Lane Following Assist, Multi-collision brake, Driver

benefits, as well as more low and zero emission driveline in the future. While we have other models in the

future, our first test and the subject of this story was the top spec Highlander model Staria, which is priced from $66,500 plus on-road costs for the all-wheel drive 2.2 litre turbo diesel.

Staria can also be specced with the 3.5 litre V6 petrol engine and the base model comes as a front drive, as opposed to the rear drive layout of its iMax predecessor.

The top-spec Staria Highlander is very well equipped featuring nicely designed 18-inch alloy wheels, auto LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, automatic

start and a power tailgate. Inside the cabin there are heated and cooled seats for the first row, a heated

passengers, dual 10.25-inch displays, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wired), power sliding doors, electric seat

ANCAP or Euro NCAP, but as far as we can tell the Santa Fe it is based on has a five-star rating, so the Staria should meet let the new model fall short. However it is our view that there is an over dependence on ANCAP and NCAP ratings in a system

functions, and not enough attention to dynamics.

Dynamics aren’t an issue with the Staria,

performs superbly in terms of handling, performance and comfort.

equipment, including seven airbags with

including AEB with pedestrian/cyclist

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THE PRESENCE OF AWD GIVES THE STARIA A SURE FOOTEDNESS AND AGILITY IN SLIPPERY AND MARGINAL CONDITIONS, THAT 2WD VANS COULD NOT HOPE TO EMULATE.

attention monitoring, Safe exit warning,

the next two rows) along with room for

view monitor. Phew, was almost out of breath with all of that equipment is in the base model. The Elite also gets Safe

practicality to the situation that is easy to like, with the rear cargo area boasting a wide and flat design for plenty of luggage

Rear cross-traffic assist and Surround-

exit assist and a 3D view surround-view camera, while the Highlander also receives a Blind Spot View Monitor, delivering a camera feed of what’s in your blind spot to the instrument cluster. In terms of shifting people around and the potential as a luxury mini-bus the Staria offers a pretty compelling case for operators looking to make a splash

and be noticed, because the Staria has a presence that others will struggle to match in this class. Inside it has space for eight people ( two in the front and three in each of

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plenty of luggage. The Staria brings a van

or cargo. Big sliding doors on both sides of the

cabin make it easy to get in and out of, while the middle row seat backs can be tilted out of the way to allow access to the rear seat row.

In terms of equipment the base model doesn’t miss out on too much and are extremely well specced, with 18-inch alloy

trim, a six-speaker stereo and an 8.0inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a wireless

smartphone charging pad all as standard. Not to shabby for $48,500 plus on roads On top of that the Elite gets keyless entry and push-button start, powersliding doors and a power tailgate, as well as leather upholstery, a poweradjustable driver’s seat, DAB digital radio, a surround view camera system with 3D view, tri-zone climate control

and a 10.2-inch touchscreen with in-built

keyless entry, multi-angle parking cameras,

navigation but wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while the Highlander is even more impressive with a 10.2-inch digital

a leather-clad steering wheel, cloth seat

steering wheel, rear passenger view

wheels, LED headlights and taillights,

manual air-conditioning (for all three rows), a 4.2-inch digital instrument panel,

instrument panel, dual power sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated

monitor and cloth headlining.

into the top of the dash and a couple

the petrol 2WD and ramps up to $66,500 for the diesel AWD. Above all Hyundai has done a great job

small nick knacks and other items. In terms of performance the 2.2-litre fourcylinder turbo diesel is a terrific powerplant

The Highlander starts at $63,500 for

Fuel consumption for a large van was

of flat storage spaces atop the dash for

equally impressive with the diesel engine

on the interior design with some really nice touches throughout, including air

delivering maximum power of 130kW at 3800rpm and 430Nm of torque between

average figures for the Staria.

with USB charging ports in all three rows. In particular the massive huge centre

The presence of AWD gives the Staria a sure footedness and agility in slippery and

conditioning vents for both rear rows, lots of usable storage and 10 cup holders

console box between the front seats can take heaps of ‘stuff’ as well as a couple of drink holders for front seat occupants and a two pop-out cup holders and a storage

draw for the middle row as well. For the front seat occupants there is also a wireless charging pad along with a pair of

USB charging ports, more cup holders built

1500 and 2500rpm, mated to an eightspeed auto.

marginal conditions, that 2WD vans could not hope to emulate. The Staria also boasts a very strong

returning 10.3 litre/100km during our time with the vehicle, which is slightly better than the 10.4L/100km promised by the The Staria’s long wheelbase delivers a

well mannered and very responsive on road performance with a ride that is a step

ahead of the vehicle it replaces, with direct, sharp and responsive steering that delivers excellent feel, not just for a people mover but for any vehicle.

towing capability with a 750 kg unbraked

Has Hyundai done a good job with the Staria? You bet! This is a really good

into a trailer if necessary.

small bus and luxury transfer market for all manner of reasons.

capacity and 2.5 tonne for a braked trailer. That would be attractive for luxury mini bus operators who can use it to offload luggage

vehicle no matter which way you cut it and it is going to win plenty of friends in the

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Company Car

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF

If you read Transport & Trucking regularly, then you will realise we are very pro zero emission vehicles and while they are generally a bit thin on the ground, it finally seems as though we are starting to adopt electric cars, and demand is on the rise. We took Nissan’s latest Leaf e+ for a spin.

t’s still going to be a while before everyone’s first option is an electric car, but it is happening, which must

high price tag, new technology is always expensive, (look at flat screen TVs), the

be an encouragement to companies like Nissan, which has been one of the

payback will be when the price drops and public acceptance is gained with a critical mass of these cars on the road.

in Australia. Nissan launched its first gen Leaf in Australia almost ten years ago and it has

tested is that it now has a bigger battery with much better range, which is one of the chief anxieties people have about electric

cool about paying a large premium for the concept when internal combustion vehicles are much cheaper and a known entity.

this is going to diminish rapidly, and range anxiety should be a thing of the past. Not only does the Leaf e+ have better

pioneers of electric cars globally, and here

been a long slow slog with the market

But chip away they have, and now with two updates or evolutions of the Leaf

concept, Nissan now has a very attractive and acceptable electric car , with good range, excellent dynamics and design. The one turn off is still the price, but that

is a factor of the cost of batteries and the take up of the technology as well as our government’s general ambivalence to the electric concept.

While Nissan was a pioneer and prepared to push the concept out there with a

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The thing about the new Leaf e+ that we

cars. The reality is that as tech gets better,

range it also boasts more oomph and performance from a more powerful electric drivetrain. To underline the premium that you have

to pay for the drive up onto the moral high ground as a person with a zero emission vehicle, the new Leaf e+ will set you back $60,490 plus on roads. Nissan also offers the standard Leaf, with less power and

range for a still substantial price of $49,990, which is a lot for what is basically a midsize Japanese hatch.

Both models actually have similar equipment levels with the $11000 difference down primarily to the cost of providing that extra range and performance. Both the Leaf and Leaf e+ are well equipped with a snappy electronic

instrument panel housed in the 7.0 inch multifunction display, which can be customised to show driving range, energy consumption and a range of other driver

info. Meantime audio, and nav etc. is controlled via the centre mounted 8.0 inch touchscreen multi-media display, which

is also a very good feature fitted standard with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

That is also linked to a seven speaker Bose audio system with DAB+ digital radio and satellite nav. You also get keyless entry, a leather and

suede interior trim, privacy glass, a headed steering wheel and seats and 17 inch alloy wheels as standard. Styling is a subjective thing and some

people we spoke to really like the look of the Leaf but others didn’t, they didn’t see

it as offensive, just a little plain and bland, but like we say it is subjective. At the front is a solid panel with no grille.

That is because there is no need to channel air through a radiator to cool an engine and so a solid panel is better aerodynamically. Climb behind the wheel and in front of the instrument display and the image is a lot more high tech and advanced. A really nifty gear shifter which has a really organic look and feel to it.

It is just like a gear shifter in a conventional

auto, in that you pull it toward you to select drive but of course there is just D for Drive, R for Reverse and P for Park, there are no gears to select as such.

Plug the key in, select start and the dash lights up and goes solid once the car is

ready to be driven away. Select D and away you go, gliding away from a standstill with an eerily quiet and efficient whirr. The 8.0-inch touchscreen dominates the

centre stack, and it’s great to see that, despite the Leaf’s futuristic feel, there are still buttons and switches for the

climate controls, rather than being

However you soon get used to it and adapt.

size and is about the same size as say a Hyundai i30 or Corolla with an overall

signals, but again you soon get used to that. Firstly, there is nothing intimidating about

an all-touchscreen affair. The Leaf boasts a really good package

length of 4490mm long along with a 2700mm wheelbase and is 1788 mm wide. The Nissan designers have done a great

job with the interior design and given it a really spacious and open feel by comparison with its conventional hatch rivals. It has

Part of the sensory gap is because there is no engine noise to give your brain audible

the cabin. The layout for all the controls and switches is well thought out, and everything is just where it should be and does what it’s meant to do. The Leaf e+ is great in urban traffic darting

modern and advanced appearance.

away from the lights and nimbly climbing hills and accelerating out of intersections, and soon you really enjoy the experience

position, although the steering wheel can

We didn’t get to drive the plain Leaf so we can’t judge how much nippier the e+ is,

a nice light and airy feel that adds to its I liked the seating position and easily organised a comfy and relaxed driving

be adjusted up and down but not in an out which may displease some. Driving an electric vehicle is a very different experience to an internal

combustion engine vehicle. When you push that throttle pedal the torque delivery is at just about max right from the start and it can be a bit of a push you back in the seat moment if you don’t watch yourself.

of that instantaneous power delivery.

but one would imagine the added 11 grand price tag would mean a reasonable step up in performance. Of course the other thing you are paying for is an extended range which with the e+ means you get an extra 110 kms . That on

the surface doesn’t seem like a big gain but is a reasonable addition, particularly when you consider that the average Aussie

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“THE LEAF DOES EVERYTHING EFFICIENTLY AND WITHOUT FUSS” car travels about 13300km per year or about 36km each day, so that 110km of added range means you could potentially stretch around another three days between charges, or go another hour down the road on a long trip before stopping for a recharge. During the week we had with the Leaf e+

6.9 seconds, which is a pretty quick time

to see if we could achieve it. That added 110 km is a really soothing thing to have in minimising range anxiety. Of course being an electric car also means it is able to slow using the

driving it. When you compare the e+ to the standard

we actually didn’t have to recharge it at all and in fact that was one of our intentions

regenerative force of the drive train, helping brake while replenishing the battery. You can also help extend the range by operating in Eco mode or by playing with the Leaf’s e-Pedal.

If you use Eco mode you can adjust the settings to add up to 15km to the range, with the e-Pedal turning the car into a

for a hatch back like this. It is also about one second faster than the lower powered

standard Leaf. More importantly than acceleration figures for most buying an electric car is what the range and charge efficiency is. Nissan quotes a range of just shy of 400 km, and of course this is a rubbery figure depending on how economically you are

Leaf, the differences sound and look a lot more stark. The standard car has a

smaller battery pack with the e+ fitted with a 62kWh unit that delivers those extra kilometres. When you look at the Leaf’s 270km range up against the 385km or

so the e+ can travel it means a lot more in terms of trip planning and is at the nub of why you pay an extra $11000. It takes about 11.5 hours to recharge

single pedal operation, powering forward

the Leaf e+ from 30 per cent on a home 240volt outlet. On a fast DC charger you

are on the brakes when buttoning off. It can be quite a strong braking effort and

more fast chargers.

while on the throttle and slowing as if you

can take the battery from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in about 45 minutes, so bring on

of course when doing this it is also topping up the charge.

The Leaf does everything efficiently and without fuss. In terms of dynamics and

which means it has about 50 more horses and 20 additional Newton metres over its standard sibling.

when you weigh up its performance and braking capabilities the Leaf e+ is a quick point to point car, if a little unrewarding

The e+. boasts a very impressive 340Nm of torque and maximum power of 340Nm

The result is that the Leaf e+’s electric

motor will drive it from 0 to 100km/h in just

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handling the Nissan is again inoffensive and does everything well enough. However

in terms of driver experience.

The cab is well laid out and there is a

plethora of storage nooks and compartments around the interior with the controls and switch gear all easy to see and use.

The hatchback reveals a very large rear luggage space of 405 litres enabling the Leaf to carry a fair amount of luggage or shopping. You can also fold the rear-seats to create one large cargo are that delivers a total of 1176 litres, although the rear seats don’t fold perfectly flat, which is a little annoying. Nissan has achieved a full five star ANCAP safety rating and the car has a

full suite of safety equipment including six airbags, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control , lane keep assist, blind spot

monitoring, traffic sign recognition, driver attention alert and rear cross traffic alert. Nissan gives a five year/unlimited kilometre warranty on all its vehicles and

the Leaf e+ is no exception and in addition the company gives the electric car an eight-year/160000km warranty on the battery pack, as well as five years

roadside assistance. Nissan also has capped price servicing which averages out at about $290 per year over five years with a once a year or

20,000km scheduled service. Let’s face it,

you don’t have to change the oil. We enjoyed our time with the Leaf e+, embracing its efficiency, comfort and ease

of operation. There may still be few electric

cars on our roads, but this is the future and we reckon bring it on.

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064 Money Matters COLLECT OR FORGET, AND HOW INVESTORS CAN MAKE A POSITIVE CHANGE The pandemic has dished up some unexpected side effects. With overseas travel off the cards, Australians are spending serious money on collectibles like classic cars and fine wines. But not all collectibles will make the cut as a good investment.

arlier this year, auction house Grays reported record buyer

interest in a classic car sale. It saw buyers pay top dollar for a

number of cars including a 1978 Ford XC Cobra that sold for $194,000. It’s a similar story across a variety of collectibles including stamps and coins.

But they won’t always be a money spinner. Picking investment-grade collectibles is a specialist skill. Get it right, and you can certainly pocket capital gains. According to the latest Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, coins have appreciated 72% over the last decade. Classic cars have scored 10-year gains of 193%. But the big winner is rare whiskey, which has jumped in value by 478% over the past 10 years. So, how do collectibles stack up against mainstream investments like shares? Frankly, not very well in many cases. By comparison, Australian shares dished up capital gains averaging 6.23% annually over the last ten years. To put that in perspective, if you’d invested $10,000 in a

diversified portfolio of Aussie shares back in 2011, it would be worth about $18,301 today. That’s a 10-year gain of 83%. However, shares don’t just deliver capital gains. They also pay tax-friendly

dividends. If we include dividends, shares generated total returns averaging 10.8% annually over the past decade. By reinvesting dividends, a $10,000 share portfolio in 2011 could have grown to around $27,887 by 2021. That’s a total 10-year return of 179%.

If you’re investing through a selfmanaged super fund (SMSF) there can be serious pitfalls around collectibles. The Tax Office makes it clear that collectables

must not be stored in the private residence of fund members. Artworks can’t even be displayed in a SMSF member’s business premises where they can be visible to

clients and employees. This avoids the possibly that the assets will give members

a benefit prior to retirement, which is a big no-no for SMSFs. Long story short, collectibles often come with ongoing expenses yet rarely deliver an ongoing return. The only financial benefit is a potential profit on sale further down the track. Sure, shares may not come with the same bragging rights – or physical beauty, as a prized artwork or rare jewellery. But they have a lot going for them as a financially rewarding long term investment, and it typically takes a lot less upfront capital to get started as an investor. Meantime The latest report on global

warming paints a grim picture. But investors have an opportunity to support change through their portfolio. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its

latest report, it made headlines globally. No surprises there – the report pulls no punches on the need for urgent climate action.

As individuals we can feel powerless to bring about large scale change even though

total managed funds market. ‘Responsible’ investments look for opportunities that embrace environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria that benefit people and the planet.

That can include opting for investments that support the environment such as renewable energies, or screening out negative industries like, say, tobacco or gambling. A survey by the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia

(RIAA) found consumers are especially keen to avoid investments associated with fossil fuels, human rights abuses and armaments.

The good news is that responsible investing doesn’t have to come at the cost of strong returns. The RIAA found Australian share funds with a responsible focus dished up 10-year returns averaging 9.0% annually compared to the market returns (as measured by the ASX 300) averaging 7.8% each year. It’s a similar story with international responsible

investment funds, which have achieved long term returns above the market

average. If you’re keen to invest in a way that supports the planet – and your own views on issues like social responsibility, there is a range of options to pick from. A growing number of super funds offer responsible investment choices.

There’s also a broad selection of exchange traded funds (ETFs) dedicated to sustainable investments including some that focus on overseas markets. Just be

we may be doing our bit on a personal level by making eco-friendly choices.

sure to take a close look at what the ETF is

collectibles is their low maintenance nature. When you invest in a collectible it makes

carry real clout, and demand for ‘responsible’ investments is growing

among those you would choose to invest in personally.

car, you need to pay for maintenance and possibly annual rego costs.

responsible investments in Australia. That’s over one-third of the value of the

What really sets shares apart from

sense to insure it. You also need to store it securely. If it’s something like a vintage

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As investors however we can collectively

rapidly. An industry report shows there is now a total of $1,149 billion held in

really investing in so you can be confident the fund’s underlying investments are

Paul Clitheroe is Chairman of InvestSMART, Chair of the Ecstra Foundation and chief commentator for Money Magazine.

ALL IT TAKES At Kumho, we deliver a smoother, safer ride for you and your cargo – on tyres designed to perform in all Australian conditions. Whether it’s a light load or heavy highway haulage, our commitment to quality will deliver you great value and a safer tomorrow. And like a circle, it never ends. We’ll continue to look for new ways to make your experience better. It’s just what we do. KUMHO TYRE. BETTER, ALL-WAYS.

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KUMHO.COM.AU

Coach & Bus issue 48

Articles inside

UP FRONT

THE MILLER’S TALE

E-VOLUTION