Zenobē will provide the charging infrastructure for the soon-to-be-opened Ventura all-electric bus depot in Ivanhoe, Victoria
Fleet electrification specialist Zenobē has announced it has signed a contract to partner with Ventura to install, service and maintain 14 electric bus chargers at its Ivanhoe depot in Victoria.
With the first phase of the project set to go live later this month, Zenobē is partnering with Ventura and Victoria’s department of Transport to support the electrification of the Ivanhoe depot in Heidelberg West.
By next year, the depot will be home to 26 electric buses, as Zenobē says it’ll become Australia’s largest all-electric bus depot.
Zenobē will install the charging infrastructure and associated software for the depot while also providing ongoing smart charging, asset monitoring, servicing and maintenance to the depot.
The project is Zenobē’s first project within Victoria to support its $20 million trial to deploy zero-emissions vehicles across its public transport network in a bid to drive down carbon emissions.
Zenobē will manage the upgraded grid connection that will support 14 dual gun Tritium fast chargers to power Ventura’s first fleet of 13 electric buses, with a commitment to expand to 27 buses by 2024.
The buses and the charging infrastructure will be supported by Zenobē’s software to ensure the buses are optimally charged and managed. Zenobē will also operate and maintain the charging infrastructure for three years.
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Once fully operational, the Ventura Ivanhoe depot will be the first all-electric bus depot in Victoria and the second largest electric bus depot in the country and will transport up to 10,000 passengers every week, covering more than 1.2 million kilometres every year.
Last week Victorian premier Daniel Andrews visited the depot with public transport minister Ben Carroll to see the setting of what will be the largest fleet of locally made zero-emissions electric buses across the Victorian state.
The project is Zenobē’s third large-scale bus depot fleet electrification project in Australia, with previous projects including the massive Leichhardt depot project. The company now employs 14 people across Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne.
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“Through this partnership we can provide a financially sustainable solution for transport decarbonisation that will have a direct impact on the air quality of communities these vehicles operate in,” Zenobē co-founder and director Steven Meersman says.
Zenobē country director Gareth Ridge says he’s proud to work with Ventura as part of the zero-emissions bus trial to create Australia’s first fully electric bus depot.
“The depot will be integrated with our software to ensure the depot runs efficiently, without undue strain on the grid and achieves the highest degree of time, cost and carbon savings,” Ridge says.
Ventura managing director Andrew Cornwall says: “We are excited to work with Zenobē to transform our Ivanhoe depot to one that meets the needs of our new fleet of electric buses.”
“These electric buses will be a breath of fresh air for customers traveling to destinations such as Latrobe University, Northland Shopping Centre, Preston Market and Gowrie Station.”