BCI first began making electric buses in 2010 for Australian operators. But after coming back to zero-emissions technology in 2017, BCI is set to realise another new electric model.
Bus & Coach International (BCI) was one of Australia’s earliest manufacturers to start producing electric buses. In 2010 the company built its first emissions free bus for a Melbourne operator.
But BCI says it soon realised the industry marketplace wasn’t yet ready for electric buses to be introduced. Since this initial project of three trial buses, however, it took until 2017 for BCI to get back into trialling electric technology. In 2019 it realised its first electric model since the 2010 trial. Now, its latest electric model is including the best of BCI’s diesel bus technology, all wrapped into one small vehicle.
The new BCI Proma Low Floor Electric Bus is the latest zero-emissions model produced by the manufacturer. It follows a line of electric vehicles made since 2019, when the Citirider E electric bus first hit the market in Victoria.
BCI state manager Cameron Millen says plenty has changed regarding the company’s electric models since it released its first zero-emissions bus in 2010.
“Back then the technology was very different to what we use today,” Millen told ABC. “Now we’ve gotten into our next generation of electric buses, starting with our first 2019 low floor bus that runs in Sydney and wider New South Wales.
“After building a nine-metre option, we saw our electric buses as part of a niche market for on-demand services and community buses, and our smaller low floor has been a popular addition to our fleet.”
The latest BCI zero-emissions bus continues this low floor design that is helping BCI stand out in the electric bus market. Many customers may not have heard about the newest BCI electric model, but it is already available to the Australian market and has gone on trial in Queensland.
With an overall length of 9.1 metres, Millen says the low entry, single-door city bus looks like BCI’s normal low floor diesel vehicles. Yet the bus’s 29 belted seats(also available with metro seating) and 280 kilowatts of battery power makes it a sleek and efficient option for operators wanting to transition their smaller buses to being electrically powered.
Millen says the new bus was built using the NSW transport department manufacturing specifications in mind, ensuring that the vehicle is as efficient as possible. BCI has taken time to create a charging infrastructure and battery range that can alleviate range anxiety.
“This new bus is a similar platform to our first 12-metre electric bus,” Millen says. “We know on the electric side of production what does and doesn’t work.
“Customers are always different when buying electric buses, so we’ve built this model using the highest specifications in the country. We made sure that in testing the bus could complete a double service shift without needing to be recharged, so we’ve proven that we’ve minimised weight and built in enough battery capacity to assure operators.”
Although the latest BCI model isn’t a completely new design for the manufacturer, it does have its own unique features. Millen says it’s a smaller and narrower bus than the 12.5-metre low floor electric model.
But internally, the low floor electric bus comes into its own.
“It looks quite smart,” Millen says. “The model’s unique features include the interior – passenger and drivers wouldn’t even know that they’re on an electric bus.
“It looks and feels like any normal diesel bus, but when it takes off it can’t be heard.”
Millen says the BCI Proma Low Floor Electric Bus first arrived in October last year before going on trial with mining company Murrays in Queensland. More models are set to arrive on Australian shores later this year, with additional operators queueing to trial the electric bus.
Millen says the model’s range is becoming a key selling point. Although many operators hold initial fears about the range of electric buses, Millen says these doubts are often alleviated once they begin driving the BCI suite of zero-emission technology vehicles.
“A lot of the range anxiety we’ve experienced is no different to what happens in the car industry,” Millen says. “What we find is operators start driving electric buses and then become used to them and realise what theycan do.
“These electric buses are less complicated than diesel buses – they have less moving parts and work on lower maintenance, so our trials have been based around operators touching and feeling these electric buses, particularly if they haven’t experienced them before.”
From Millen’s perspective, drivers love operating BCI’s latest electric buses. He says the newest model’s first trial at Murrays in western Queensland went successfully and performed well. Millen says the Proma Low Floor model did everything Murrays wanted it to do. He’s now looking ahead to the next trial planned for six months in NSW.
BCI plans to exhibit this model at the upcoming Bus & Coach Expo later this year. It will do so alongside another new electric model, a school and mining zero-emissions bus version of the same Proma Low Floor prototype that will hit the market soon.
“The next one to be released is a school and mining bus version of this model that will be pretty similar except for having different internal configurations,” Millen says. “We also have designs for hydrogen buses we’ve been working on for some time now.
“We have similar length diesel buses with the low floor that have done well in the market, so we will continue trying to get all of these models across to zero-emissions as we see that as the way of the future.”
Millen says BCI’s future is filled with planning for the transition to zero-emissions buses. While the manufacturer will continuedevising plans for hydrogen and battery-powered models, Millen says it’ll keep producing vehicles to ensure BCI is quickly making entirely sustainable buses to meet the growing demand.
“We’ll continue transitioning to zero-emission buses,” Millen says. “We’ll make sure we’re ready to make the change when it comes and have models made that are emissions free.”