Cape Town orders 30 electric buses from Volvo
The MyCiTi bus service not only ordered the electric buses but also placed a separate tender for the installation of the charging infrastructure, for which the process is due to begin shortly.
As MyCiTi writes, the vehicles will not be imported, but instead only the Volvo BZRLE bus chassis will be imported, and the bodies will be locally produced.
“This project is more than just a bus delivery – this will be the first electric bus manufactured in South Africa for South Africa,” explained Volvo Bus Southern Africa director Leon Nelson, adding: “This project is more than just a bus delivery – this will be the first electric bus manufactured in South Africa for South Africa. The project enables transitioning competence and skills from Sweden to South Africa to help upskill the local workforce and boost local manufacturing capacity.”
“We have ordered a minimum of 30 buses, but this number may increase with funding availability,” said City of Cape Town (CoCT) Urban Mobility MMC Rob Quintas, adding: “The first bus will be built and homologated before the end of this year. Thereafter, testing will commence. It is important to note that this electric vehicle is the first of its kind in South Africa.”
This acquisition was announced last summer, and the city of Cape Town also announced plans to begin “investigating the feasibility of electrifying other parts of its vehicle fleet, including waste collection trucks.” Around the same time, public transport operator Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) ordered 120 electric buses from BYD for use in Cape Town.
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