In recent years, the Australasian bus and coach industry has been at the forefront of a zero-emissions change, leading the way with new technology. While it has been touted as a gradual transition, suppliers like HVAC company Queensland Thermo King (QTK) are proving that not everything has to go slowly when it comes to electric buses.
“The first Thermo King series one electric unit was the standard E1200 model which first came to the local market in 2019,” QTK Group customer solutions manager Allan Lowes told ABC.
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“Now, we have successfully supplied and installed over 100 electric AC units on an Australian zero-emissions bus.”
It’s a milestone that has arrived rapidly for Lowes, QTK and its collection of project partners involved, including international major operator Kinetic. Thermo King first supplied its E1200 model over five years ago through import partners and local bodybuilding giant Volgren, with the model going onto chassis provided by BYD, Volvo and King Long.
Having introduced the model to capitalise on a unique opportunity to show its zero-emissions technology capabilities, QTK soon found that it could lead the space in Australia’s bus and coach market.
“Reaching over 100 electric units already is a proud moment for us – it’s come a bit quicker than we thought it would, but in saying that it could still be moving faster to meet what’s coming on the horizon,” Lowes says.
“We’ve had a lot of learnings in our journey and now have heaps of experience in the space, both in the installation and supply side with our partners, as well as what we can offer our customers in terms of efficiency, performance and experience.”
That first generation Thermo King electric model was more than just a milestone for the HVAC supplier – Volgren sales team leader Greg Reichelt also remembers the impact the AC unit had on Volgren’s bodybuilding capabilities.
“We built our very first local electric bus with that Thermo King AC unit back in 2019,” Reichelt told ABC.
“We built that first bus and Transdev ended up purchasing it. Now, the partnership has flourished.”
Although the first generation E1200 was a historic unit for QTK and its project partners, the HVAC business quickly moved to evolve its technology. More recently came the E1200 LW – a lightweight version that involved a range of key benefits and features for operators to enjoy.
“The original E1200 had the same foundation operational features that we see in our latest models today, such as the reverse cycle heat pump AC circuit that operates on high voltage DC, but it was a lot larger and heavier back then,” Lowes says.
“It was also longer due to us wanting to get something to the market quickly at the time. Now, as electric vehicle options evolve, we have become more critical with the power consumption and distance of our AC models, enhancing the recharging capabilities.”
As the wider industry seeks to gain the little advantages with zero-emissions bus and coach technology, a key factor emerging in this process is weight. Whether it be the weight of bodies, chassis or parts like HVAC systems, reducing the weight of the overall vehicle has been found to extend the battery range and capacity, making zero-emissions models more viable for many operators.
Lowes says weight has been a key driver in Thermo King’s push to evolve its E1200 model, with the reduced weight of the model meaning less power is consumed when running the HVAC unit.
“The reduction of components has helped us reduce the weight of the unit further, while chassis partners have also changed the whole modular design of the vehicle’s frame from a heavier material to aluminium to ensure the entire package is lighter than ever before,” Lowes says.
“We know that lowering the weight of components goes a long way to making the whole bus more efficient, so we’ve worked with manufacturers and our vendors to produce lighter options that have improved performance.”
To reduce the weight, Thermo King has also introduced a new inverter design, with its new control system also being introduced to remove a few components throughout the unit. This streamlining of parts that make the electric unit excel has meant that servicing has also become easier for customers, with the changes in technology resulting in major benefits.
Lowes is also wary of an emerging trend where bus and coach manufacturers want to have more real estate on the roof to store important parts like batteries. Instead of fighting zero-emissions bus brands, Lowes has allowed QTK to collaborate with them to provide more space around the HVAC unit.
“Space on the roof is reducing more and more nowadays, as everyone is fighting for that space,” Lowes says.
“We don’t want the HVAC unit to take up all of it, so we’ve reduced the length of our model.”
With over 100 E1200 models introduced on local zero-emissions vehicles comes a raft of experience in a short amount of time. Lowes knows that QTK and the wider industry is yet to see the full benefits of the zero-emissions transition, with technology continuing to evolve rapidly to meet growing demands.
The brand’s experience has allowed Lowes and his team to understand the varying chassis requirements that the market has for zero-emissions HVAC units.
“There’s been some hurdles we’ve experienced along the way in learning what we can do to help our project partners in the zero-emissions journey,” Lowes says.
“We’ve also realised that operators are learning along with us, for a lot of our customers it’s their first electric vehicle, while other customers like Kinetic are well and truly on the pathway to transitioning.
“We’re all educating ourselves around how to operate this technology best – it all runs so differently to a conventional diesel unit. For us, as a supplier, it’s been about integrating with the chassis to provide more value for manufacturers in enhancing performance, kilometres, range and recharging capabilities.”
On the bodybuilding side of the partnership, Volgren’s long history with QTK and Kinetic has expanded with the trio’s involvement in producing and operating electric bus technology. Now, as Volgren looks to continue growing its zero-emissions bus and coach range, its connection with QTK’s HVAC technology will become pivotal.
“We’ve built in excess of 150 electric vehicles now, and we’ve got some new electric and hydrogen vehicles on the horizon to be released at the upcoming National Bus & Coach Show in September,” Reichelt says.
“The whole industry is evolving so quickly currently – electric bus chassis, bodies and AC units are changing so much that we have to work together to adapt and meet the requirements.”
While Reichelt has always been grateful for QTK’s partnership, the latter’s recent commitment to reducing the size and weight of its models has taken the good will to a new level. Now, Volgren is enjoying saving as much weight on its buses as possible, with QTK’s E1200 LW giving Volgren more scope to upgrade its technology and provide vehicles for more passengers than before.
“It’s the components that we add to our model that changes it – our body is our body,” Reichelt says.
“Whatever we can find to save weight on an electric bus model is an absolute bonus for us.”
It’s not just the bodybuilding and manufacturing side that is reaping the rewards of Thermo King’s popular electric HVAC model – operator Kinetic is receiving positive reviews for its fleet of zero-emissions buses that feature QTK technology.
“For us, one of the key drivers of customer satisfaction that we measure is the onboard experience,” Kinetic Customer Experience Manager Justin Rogers told ABC.
“When customers board the bus, we want to give them a consistent and comfortable experience”.
Kinetic’s requirements aren’t simple – operating on both Far North Queensland and the much colder environments of Melbourne and Tasmania means its HVAC units need to be able to cope with extreme temperatures.
“Its important technology keeps passengers comfortable in all types of places,” Rogers says.
“We’re committed to decarbonising our fleet and introducing more electric buses, and currently they’ve been well received by passengers around Melbourne.”
Outside of passengers, Kinetic drivers are also providing positive feedback on the electric buses. While shift driving has now become less taxing with electric buses, the cosy climate created by the HVAC systems is also ensuring everyone remains comfortable and safe.
Having quickly reached the century milestone of electric AC units produced for Australian buses, QTK has no plans to slow down. Lowes is refusing to stop and smell the roses and recognise their brand’s achievement. Instead, he sees plenty more for QTK to do to supply high quality AC solutions for the evolving zero-emissions transport space.
“We’re producing the units rapidly as we’re trying to prepare for the big rush that we hope the electric market will see,” Lowes says.
“We’re ready to go and support everyone – we’re always looking at how we can evolve our product and aftermarket better.
“There’s a lot in the HVAC space that we feel we can do to drive performance benefits for zero-emissions vehicles.”
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