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BCI undergoes unique journey to get to Expo

Little did customers know, Bus & Coach International (BCI) underwent an amazing experience to deliver its three electric models to the Expo.

No other companies can boast the same tale in getting its products to the Expo as Bus & Coach International (BCI) can.

Just weeks out from the Expo, BCI CEO Desmond Armstrong decided to spring a surprise on his sales staff. Instead of trucking BCI’s Expo buses from Melbourne to the Sydney Showgrounds, Armstrong devised a fun way of moving the fleet.

“It was my crazy idea,” Armstrong told ABC. “Everyone called me the disruptor, because the buses were initially earmarked to be trucked to Sydney.

“Instead, I decided to do a test in Melbourne at a local charging station. Once we proved the vehicles could take charge, we flew the whole sales team down to Melbourne and drove the three buses from Melbourne to the Expo.”

The process involved quickly marshalling the sales staff at BCI’s Melbourne office, where they then split into three teams and drove the buses to Sydney.

“I thought about it and had some pushback, but once I relayed the message more to my team, it became clear there was a buy-in from everyone,” Armstrong says. “It was very exciting. Just being able to experience the surroundings of the trip while at the back of the bus with no vibrations was amazing.”

Driving electric buses such a long way is a challenge in itself with current range constraints on zero-emissions models. Yet BCI was on a mission to prove that its bus range could handle the journey and instil more customer confidence. Armstrong says the trip provided valuable insights for the entire team.


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“We got great data about how the buses performed, and it was interesting to see how easy the models were to charge despite having some challenges,” Armstrong says. “For example, some chargers weren’t working and we learnt what we could improve.

“We got some fantastic stories along the way and put data loggers in our vehicles to record information. Now, we’re lucky to have some true data we can share with our customers.”

Western Australian BCI sales executive Chris Talbot was one of the lucky few who got to partake in the convoy from Melbourne to Sydney after flying from WA to participate.

 “It was a great experience to get them travelling on the road as none of us knew what they would be like with public chargers,” Talbot told ABC. “We had some trouble, such as running in and finding only one working fast charger, but we adapted by staggering our take off times.”

BCI South Australia and Northern Territory sales manager Bruce Moseley finished the voyage with the nickname ‘the Destroyer’ due to using the most amount of power while driving the buses.

“I used the most power because I really wanted to test the bus,” Moseley told ABC. “It was impressive the instant response I got off the mark.

“There wasn’t a bus nor truck that we couldn’t go past. It was a great way of experiencing how quiet the buses are while traversing the countryside.”

For Victorian sales manager Cameron Millen, the real-world experience the team had made discussing the models at the Expo even easier. Although the choice to drive the buses was rushed, he can now see the benefits.

“Desmond was in Melbourne about three weeks before the Expo while we were extremely busy preparing,” Millen told ABC. “It was a shock when he announced the idea, but it was the best decision to bring everyone together.

“It was a little bit of the unknown, yet we can now look back and say it’s been a worthwhile moment for BCI.”

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