Business North October 2021

62 | TRANSPORT Zemtec The Kiwis revolutionising bus design Richard Loader The E-City has been built from tier one stainless steel for strength and to eliminate concerns about corrosion. E lectric city buses designed and built from the ground up to meet the specific opera- tional requirements of New Zealand and Australia may soon be gracing the streets of Auckland city. The start-up bus manufacturing company developing the E-City bus is Auckland based Zemtec. Led by John Bayes and Frank Reardon and other key personnel who collectively bring significant experience in bus design, manu- facture and operation, the first prototype bus has been built at Bayes Coachlines’ Albany workshop. When approached by Frank in 2019 with the idea of forming a company to develop the E-City bus, John says he was driven by the be- lief that city bus operators deserved a better service than what they had been getting. “Every other electric bus from existing suppliers that I’ve found use the current diesel platform and convert it to electric. So we set about designing a purpose built electric bus from a blank canvas.” John explains that the E-City bus body and chassis are one complete unit, much like an upside down bus with the main structure on the roof. “The reason that we’ve done that is weight. The E-City has been built from tier one stainless steel for strength and to eliminate concerns about corrosion and subsequent weakening after long-term use.” The E-City is considerably lighter than a conventional diesel bus of the same size and in New Zealand can carry the same passenger load on two axles as opposed to the three axles required by a diesel. “The E-City is around 30 percent lighter in mass than other electric buses, which are heavier than diesel buses. “New Zealand has had major problems with axle weight on roads, and majority of electric buses currently in New Zealand need permits to go on New Zealand roads. “We’ve been able to make the E-City be- tween 3 – 5 tonnes lighter than the competi- tion. That means there will be significantly less wear and tear on the roads.” The weight reduction also allows for re- duced battery storage. While most bus manu- factures use batteries out of China, the batter- ies selected by Zemtec have been engineered in Germany and made in Michigan, USA. “We utilise a lot of little batteries to make the power-pack up, which is a much safer option. “Over a 20 year lifespan the E-City bus will be considerably cheaper than the imported products. Over a five-year period when things ramp up we expect to produce about one E-City bus a week and employing 200 – 300 staff.” “They have been designed so that they can internally combust but not ignite. They also have to be heated and cooled which, while challenging, we have achieved. “They sit at 20 degrees — plus or minus 4 degrees. Solar panels built into the roof charge the 24volt side of the bus for brake and suspension systems and the air condition- ing etcetera.” Charged at the end of the day, John expects the buses to have up to 350-kilometre range. Currently Auckland City buses average 170 kilometres a day. “By early September the bus should be ready for testing. I’ve built the bus and had a lot of influence on its design and practicality. All the glass and external panelling has been specifically designed for the E-City. “We hope that by the end of the year we will be ready to take orders. “Over a 20 year lifespan the E-City bus will be considerably cheaper than the imported products. Over a five-year period when things ramp up we expect to produce about one E-City bus a week and employing 200 – 300 staff.” While initial orders will be for the New Zea- land market, John expects a large proportion of the product will eventually go to Australia. “Ultimately the idea is for the E-City buses to replace the existing inner city bus fleets in Auckland and New Zealand’s other main cen- tres. But while Auckland has 1400 city buses Sydney has 8000, and then you have Brisbane and Melbourne.” Leader in the design and manufacture of world-class lighting products for the automotive, transport, agriculture, construction and marine industries www.hella.co.nz