The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has put up a tender
for the Procurement
of Electric Buses (E-Buses) on Tuesday, 12 December
2017 (Contract Ref. PT323.)
As announced by Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee
Meng during the Ministry
of Transportâs Committee of Supply Debate in March 2017,
the tenders will be called for the purchase of 50
hybrid buses and 60 electric buses this
year. This will allow the LTA to expand its trial of such
âgreenâ vehicles, which while environmentally-friendly, are more
costly and less suitable for the islandâs tropical climate. Not
only do vehicles operating here consume a lot of energy for
air-conditioning, their batteries and hybrid systems work less
efficiently in our warm and humid environment.
The Diesel
Hybrid bus tender was awarded to Volvo earlier
this year, who will be delivering Volvo
7900 Hybrid buses expected to enter service starting
from the second half of 2018.
Upon procuring the Electric Buses, the Land Transport
Authority will allocate the buses to the Bus Operators (SBS
Transit, SMRT Buses, Tower Transit, Go-Ahead Singapore) to operate
on selected bus services. Currently, a large majority of LTAâs bus
assets are Euro V compliant Diesel buses.
A battery-powered all-electric bus had previously been
trialled locally by a Public Transport Operator.
From November 2016 to May 2017, a BYD
K9 bus was operating with Go-Ahead Singapore
under a LTA-initiated trial. Previous trials in Singapore have
involved diesel-hybrid buses such as the Sunlong
SLK6121UF14H, and Zhongtong
LCK6121G HEV, and Volvo
B5RLE Hybrid.
Source:Land Transport Guru