Transdev's Electric Bus;

In this video we take a ride on Transdev Melbourne's electric bus. Number #3000 is a 2019 BYD D9RA with a Volgren 'Optimus' body. We ride this bus on Route 903 towards Mordialloc, having just started its journey in Altona.

#3000 was built as a prototype and is the first electric bus built by Volgren. As such this bus has features that differ from a standard Transdev bus, including blue poles, a passenger information display, wood-style laminate flooring, different seats, a sliding rear passenger door, LED's on the steps, and USB charging ports.

The BYD D9RA is a Chinese chassis that began production in 2010 and is one of the most popular electric bus chassis worldwide. The bus uses 324kWh lithium phosphate batteries with a claimed range of around 300km on a single charge.

The bus originally began service on the busy route 246 in December 2019, where it is claimed that it saved 61.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in its first 300 days of service compared to a standard diesel bus. Afterwards it was rolled out onto route 251, before ending up on the busy 903 Orbital, where we see it here.

Overall it's a nice bus to ride on; it's quiet and smooth as there's no vibrations that you would get from a diesel engine, plus acceleration is noticeably quicker than a conventional modern diesel bus and the electric motors sound rather nice. Provided that the technology is reliable I can definitely see electric buses being the way of the future.

Check out a review of this bus from the Australian Bus & Coach Magazine: https://www.busnews.com.au/bus-review...

Date:
July 2021.

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