No charge? New fare weather e-buses can’t cope with heat
Fleet’s batteries will be affected by hot and cold conditions, says report
THE State’s public transport operator has been warned the effectiveness of charging its new electric bus fleet will be impacted by ‘hot and cold weather’, with the vehicles’ range ‘eroded’ over time.
Transport for Ireland (TFI) will be operating with one-third of its bus fleet being zeroemission vehicles within two years.
However, a report by EU consultancy firm Jaspers, obtained by the Irish Daily Mail, outlined potential issues and ‘unexpected requirements’ for TFI in its shift towards decarbonising its fleet.
Dublin Bus has already purchased a number of buses as part of the move by the Government to help the country meet its emission reduction targets. According to TFI there will be 421 electric buses by the end of 2024.
‘In other words, within two years, about a third of our urban bus fleet will already be zeroemission,’ TFI has said.
As part of this, in 2024 TFI will purchase around 70 new doubledeck electric buses for Dublin and 101 for elsewhere, covering Limerick, Galway and Cork.
The rollout of the fleet has been beset by problems, with staff at Dublin Bus having to monitor the chargers as they were not reliably charging. The programme was delayed last year after it was revealed that Dublin Bus and the National Transport Authority had not installed the necessary charging infrastructure prior to the fleet’s delivery.
The Jaspers report reviewed potential issues for Dublin Bus as part of the shift to using more ebuses as part of its fleet.
It noted that there would be ‘sensitivity to hot and cold weather’ in terms of ‘battery and charging performance’.
It warned that there would be an ‘eroding’ of performance and ‘bus range’ over time.
It also said there would be a loss of ‘peak capacity’ on a per-bus basis that would lead ‘in some cases’ to an ‘increased fleet’.
The ‘redundant’ bus fleets would mean there would be an ‘eroding’ of ‘economic feasibility’
The note provided by Jaspers also said there could be an ‘unexpected requirement for depot upgrades/extensions’ and associated impact capital expenditure. A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said the Government was ‘committed to the decarbonisation’ of the public transport sector in line with the Climate Action Plan and EU climate targets.
‘It is the way in which transport right across Europe is moving,’ said the spokeswoman.
‘No new diesel-only buses have been purchased for urban public service obligation bus fleets since July 2019, as set out in the National Development Plan 20182027. The transition to a zeroemission urban bus fleet is currently programmed to take up until 2035, based on replacement of non-zero-emission buses as they reach the end of their efficient service lives.’
The spokeswoman insisted electric buses had a ‘number of advantages’ that outweigh the challenges faced in migrating to a cleaner fleet. ‘They produce no emissions and offer reduced interior and exterior noise levels compared to diesel buses. This transition to electric buses will not only result in cleaner air and less noise pollution in areas where the buses are operating, but will also provide a quieter journey for passengers,’ she said.
The spokeswoman said Ireland is moving towards an eco-friendly fleet which is in line with most other EU countries.
‘The transition under way in Ireland in relation to decarbonising our public transport system is similar to those under way across the EU and issues such as those noted by Jaspers are common across all public transport systems as this transition commences,’ she said.
‘It’s the way Europe is moving’