Chinese automaker BYD has signed an order with Cape Town-based Golden Arrow, one of South Africa’s largest bus operators, to supply 120 electric buses to promote the electrification of local public transport.
Golden Arrow previously said it intends to introduce no fewer than 60 electric buses to its fleet every year starting in 2024 until its entire fleet of 1,100 diesel-powered buses is converted.
“This agreement marks a historic step towards establishing the first electric bus fleet in South Africa, demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainable transportation and reducing carbon emissions,” said the company.
The new 12.5m-long electric buses are equipped with lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and feature BYD’s proprietary six-in-one controller, which integrates six critical components into one single compact module for enhanced efficiency and reliability.
The company notes that in addition to contributing to a greener environment, the eco-friendly people haulers will provide passengers with a quieter and more comfortable travel experience.
“As a company with such a rich history, we are proud to be the first to bring electric buses to South Africa’s public transport space,” said Golden Arrow CEO Francois Meyer.
“This partnership with BYD underscores our commitment to innovation and sustainability.”
The delivery of the electric buses is scheduled to commence in December 2024, with plans for full delivery by the end of 2025.
A successful pilot
By the time pen was put to paper on the order of 120 BYD electric buses, the vehicles had already undergone years of testing in the country to prove they could withstand the unique market conditions.
Since 2021, Golden Arrow has trialed BYD’s 37 and 65-seater electric buses along major commuter routes in Cape Town to determine the viability of introducing them at scale.
The buses initially completed 7,000km of testing with no passengers on board with the weight of the maximum number of occupants modelled using sandbags.
This enabled the operator to check whether the vehicles would be able to traverse the mountainous terrains on which they will spend most of their days.
Next, Golden Arrow allowed passengers onto the electric buses in June 2021 for another 50,000km of trials.
The real-life tests showed that the electric buses were able to operate on the steepest inclines in Cape Town, most notably Hospital Bend on the M3, while passengers also reported numerous benefits over diesel buses, most notably a quieter and more comfortable ride with improved air quality at bus stops.
In addition to the satisfactory driving performance, Golden Arrow discovered it could save north of R657,000 per year on diesel by switching to electric, as well as achieve a 50% savings in spare parts and 80% savings in oils and lubricants.
Golden Arrow cost-benefit analysis electric vs diesel bus
Following the favourable outcome of the pilot project, Golden Arrow committed to replacing its entire fleet of diesel buses with electric equivalents.
This will make a significant contribution to reducing public transport-associated greenhouse gas emissions in Cape Town as the operator’s current diesel fleet burns over 25 million litres of fossil fuels and emits around 67.3 tonnes of CO2 per year.
To accommodate the transition, Golden Arrow will increase its installed renewable energy generation capacity to between 80-100MW. It is considering solar carports and ground-mounted solar installations where available to meet this target.
It will also develop an electric bus charging strategy that leverages the best possible times for charging at depots in order for this to have a low impact on servicing customers.
Using Golden Arrow’s model as a test bed, the City of Cape Town is also considering the procurement of electric buses for its MyCiti fleet, which consists of 374 buses, in line with the council-approved Carbon Neutral 2050 Commitment and the Climate Change Action Plan which sets out ambitions for completely electric public transport in 2050.
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