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A new fleet of 20 fast-charging electric buses will be progressively rolled out for passenger service from 25 August, amid a wider push towards greener transport.
It is the final batch to be deployed out of the 60 electric buses the Land Transport Authority (LTA) purchased in 2018 for S$50 million from three suppliers. This new fleet is from ST Engineering Mobility Services.
The single-deck vehicles will also be the first electric buses in Singapore to come with three doors, meant “for better commuter flow”. Accommodating about 83 people each, the buses will be deployed for services 38, 40, 176 and 976.
PANTOGRAPH CHARGING
Unlike the previous 40 electric buses that use plug-in charging, these new ones will use pantograph chargers - or overhead chargers, which provide faster charging. Electric buses pull up into dedicated berths, where pantograph chargers mounted overhead will be lowered once activated by the driver. The buses will then be charged at a power rating of up to 450kW during their short layover times of 10 to 15 minutes at interchanges.
The roll-out comes as Singapore plans to have a cleaner energy public bus fleet by 2040. The country currently has about 5,800 buses in total.
Source: Channel News Asia