Siemens to power new e-buses by Custom Denning in Australia
One of Australia’s leading bus manufacturers, Custom Denning, has selected Siemens to supply its charging stations and management solution Sicharge UC. The system will support the manufacturer’s future electric buses with trials now underway.
So far, the Australian manufacturer has made four prototypes of their electric bus named Element. With the new agreement now in place, each trial bus will be delivered to a bus operator paired with a Sicharge UC100 capable of delivering up to 125 kW, along with a Siemens digital depot management solution. In addition, Custom Denning has purchased a stock of Sicharge UC100 charging units for future bus sales.
According to the Australian Government Climate Change Authority, Australia’s transport emissions have risen every year since 1990. With 21 per cent, trucks and buses represent the second largest part of these emissions. State governments across Australia are encouraging the uptake of low emission transport. New South Wales, for example, aims to convert all 8,300 buses across the state to zero-emission by 2030.
“By providing our Sicharge UC systems to one of Australia’s leading bus manufacturers, we can do our part to promote the country’s plans for zero-emissions vehicles,” said Birgit Dargel, Global Head of Future Grids at Siemens Smart Infrastructure.
The Sicharge UC system allows flexibility as it can be adapted to various fleets and operator requirements. It serves the entire power range from 50 to 600 kW and can operate at up to 1,000 volts (V), for example. It also enables bus operators to expand their charging infrastructure cost-effectively with up to five dispensers plus a pantograph per charging centre, so Siemens.
Bus operators can also monitor and report all charging processes through the digital depot management suite from Siemens. It allows to intelligently schedule charging, i.e. to take advantage of lower overnight rates while ensuring that individual buses have reached the desired state of charge by the time they are needed for the next day’s operations.
“Technology can change quickly, particularly around charging infrastructure. Which is why working with a company like Siemens that keeps ahead of the curve makes sense for us as a local manufacturer,” added Scott Dunn, Managing Director of Custom Denning.
Custom Denning builds the Element electric buses in Western Sydney. Once fully operational, the company expects the site to produce 550 electric buses annually, which it hopes to sell locally and globally.
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