Diesel bus turned electric given Auckland test drive

A double-decker bus that's been transformed from diesel to 100% electric is being tested in Auckland this week.

The three-year-old vehicle was stripped and re-engineered by operator Tranzit in a Wairarapa workshop.

The company's Transport Director, Keven Snelgrove said, "This is the first repower that's been done in the world, I know they're doing one in the UK at the moment but they're still working on that project and for us to get this up and running during Covid and our guys to do it in Masterton, is a pretty good feat."

Project Manager James Howard told 1News, "The difficult part is getting the brain of the bus to talk to the electric motor, rather than a diesel engine.

"We like to think of this as a big Lego set that's been reconfigured, effectively."

The Government's set a target for complete decarbonisation of New Zealand's public transport network by 2035, but this project could see it met ahead of time.

Auckland Transport's Darek Koper was excited about the prospect.

He said the city was hoping to meet the goal early, but that he wasn't expecting commercially viable double deckers until 2025.

"Here we are, and we already have an example," he said.

“If we are to accelerate our transition to a fully zero emission bus fleet by 2030, we’ll need to consider options such as retrofitting electric technology into existing buses like Tranzit has achieved with the Repower bus.

"It just has to prove it can deliver."

The bus, which has already been serving Wellington commuters this year, is in Auckland this week to be tested on a series of the city's routes.

1News went for a test drive on Wednesday, departing from Auckland Transport's central city office and travelling over the Harbour Bridge.

Snelgrove said, "As you can see, runs smooth, does the job."

Auckland has 200 double deckers in its fleet, all running on diesel and many of them relatively new.

"This is an excellent example of a viable and cost-effective way for New Zealand to meet its public transport decarbonisation targets on time, while addressing the issue of how to transition relatively new diesel bus fleets to electric so that operators are not left with stranded assets,” said Snelgrove.

Tranzit's hoping to push ahead with transforming the 20 double deckers in Auckland it operates.

It's planning to do that within two years, but said it will only take them a fortnight to re-engineer each bus.

It says it's also in talks with Greater Wellington Regional Council about converting 100 other vehicles it operates there.

Howard said, "We'd love to start tomorrow to be fair and we're geared up with the expertise and knowledge to make it happen."

He said the repower bus can be charged in about an hour, and in Wellington would generally only be charged once during a driver's lunch break.

It can achieve around 230 kilometres in range on a single charge.

Snelgrove said a conversion costs just over $400,000, which makes it competitive with building a new one.

"And the big advantage here is that we're pulling a diesel off the road," he said.