With electric buses being invented in the 1930’s, and commercially deployed for the first time during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it’s hard to believe it took until 2017 for them to appear on Australian roads.
Fast forward to today and zero-emission buses (ZEBs) are the talk of the town as pressure mounts for Australia to accelerate its transition to zero emission public bus transport and reap the rewards of cleaner, safer, quieter and better electric vehicles.
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One Australian OEM which has been pioneering the way is Nexport, a division of GoZero Group. Nexport was the first company to deploy zero emission buses in Australia back in 2017, supplying six electric buses to Sydney Airport, and the first 58 public transport electric buses to Transport for NSW in December 2020.
“We are the market leader in the deployment of zero-emission buses” GoZero Group managing director Stephen Cartwright OAM told ABC.
“We have 140 Nexport built zero-emission buses on Australian roads today that have collectively driven over six million kilometres and counting – far more than any other provider.
“We’ve learnt a lot travelling those millions of kilometres, seeing how our buses perform on our roads, listening to what operators, drivers, unions and most importantly what passengers are telling us.
“Australia’s climate and roads differ from those overseas and therefore require a local approach when building and designing. You can design something on paper or in another country, but the proof is how it performs in local conditions”.
GoZero’s newest model, the Nexport NexGen electric bus, is exactly that – designed and engineered in Australia for Australian roads and conditions.
Launching at the Bus and Coach Show in Brisbane, the Nexport NexGen electric bus is set to become one of the most popular buses on the market.
With the NSW Government implementing targets for NSW bus procurement to support local jobs and manufacturing by progressively introducing a 50 per cent local content target in new electric buses by 2028, the role of local OEM’s like Nexport will be key to supporting the Government’s agenda. Even more so in Victoria with bus operators needing to meet at least 62 per cent local content for their government fleet.
The Nexport design and build team, led by internationally renowned ZEB expert Michel Van Maanen, is made up of expert engineers, procurement and production specialists who collectively have decades of proven local and international experience in developing and deploying electric vehicles.
“One of the driving forces behind Nexport’s success is that our expert team is constantly scouring the world to keep abreast of innovations and cherry picking the best components and ideas to design and deliver world class transport solutions, tailored to Australian conditions,” Cartwright says.
“We only use quality, tried and tested components. We source the best quality suppliers for each of the components from Australia and around the world.
“This is invaluable in providing confidence to our government and private operator customers, and its key to keeping the cost of after sales servicing and maintenance as low as possible. The parts we use can be easily sourced, and everyone in the industry is familiar with the component brand names and their quality.”
The standard model of the new Nexport NextGen ZEB features underfloor battery packs, as opposed to the old-fashioned placement on the roof. This frees up space in the roof, allowing for an extra ten centimetres in height, providing extra comfort for the increasingly tall population and greater onboard visibility for passengers and drivers.
By removing batteries on the roof, it also optimises the positioning of the air conditioning in the roof for a more even distribution of air flow throughout the entire bus, perfect to accommodate the harshness of Australian summers and providing more even heat distribution in winter.
Greater on-road stability is also a critical safety and comfort benefit of not having batteries on the roof. The lower centre of gravity enables the bus to hug the road with greater ease and certainty, especially with the buses travelling up to 100 kilometres per hour and when travelling around corners.
“If a bus has to emergency stop – or slam on the brakes – going at that speed you can imagine what damage may occur when the batteries are housed on the roof.”
With improved aerodynamics on the outside and a fully enclosed roof with no opening for batteries or emergency exit as its in the new rear window, the overall noise level inside the bus is also lower, allowing for greater comfort.
Drivers can enjoy a more comfortable cabin with an ergonomically designed dashboard and chair, a light filled environment thanks to larger windows and the new rear window feature that also increases driver visibility. In terms of driving, a new low gear means an increased level of torque, ensuring drivers can climb steep hills with ease.
“Wherever we can, we look to further reduce weight”, Cartwright says. “The future of zero-emissions transport is in the kilos, not the kilowatts.”
“By removing batteries from the roof, we can use lighter weight materials for the body, which reduces the overall bus weight.
“The lower the weight, the more efficient the bus will be.
“This means that the buses can either transport more passengers or travel longer distances on a single charge, delivering cost savings for operators.”
An over-arching goal for the GoZero Group is to achieve zero-emissions with zero accidents, placing safety as a top factor when designing new buses.
Nexport’s NextGen includes ADAS Level 1 standard safety features such as Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Forward Collision Alert (FCA), Pedestrian Collision Alert (PCA) pedestrian, cyclist and truck detection, Headway Monitoring Alert (HMW), Intelligent High beam Control (IHC), Speed Limit Warning (SLI), CCTV, and Fire Suppression System.
It’s also ADAS Level 2 compatible ensuring customers can choose a range of optional safety features such as Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), Driver Monitoring System (DMS), Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), Adaptive Cruise Control, and 360° Camera functionality. Seatbelt compatible seats can be installed where required for example for school student transport.
“It’s incredibly safe,” he says.
With years of planning and experimenting going into this newest model, Cartwright says he is excited to finally launch it at the Show in September.
“We are continuously looking to the future, and we are always seeking new and improved ways to enhance passenger safety and comfort through innovation,” he says.
“We look forward to welcoming the industry on board the Nexport NextGen ZEB from the 17th of September”.
TOP FEATURES
- Currently available in 3 different variants – 378kw, 428kw and 453kw
- Seating Capacity – from 62 to 79 passengers
- Designed using components and parts proven around the world
- Compatible with pantograph and plug in charging, fast charge and trickle, left side and right-side charge points
- ADAS Level 1 as standard and ADAS Level 2 compatible
- Increased driver visibility through peepholes, digital cameras and LiDar systems
- Aesthetically designed to maximise passenger and driver comfort – more light into the cabin (in cold weather conditions, reduce heating requirement), larger destination signs, increase internal headroom, ergonomically designed driver cabin (dash and seat)
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