A NEW Custom Denning “Element” low-floor battery electric bus, the first of four to be based in Belconnen, is about to go into service. 

The ACT government says the new Custom Denning buses were built in Sydney and will be based at the Belconnen Depot, with the appropriate charging infrastructure being installed at the depot using existing grid capacity for energy supply.

Each of these buses takes around five hours to charge and can operate up to 400 kilometres on a full charge.

These buses are so quiet that they are fitted with sound warnings for the safety for pedestrians and people with vision impairment. The warnings sound when the bus starts to reduce speeds below 20km/h or starts to increase speeds up to 23km/h.

The introduction of these four new electric buses brings Canberra’s total electric bus fleet to 16, with 90 more electric buses expected in the next three years.

Mick Neskes, national relationship manager for Custom Denning, says the buses are designed for a 25 year plus lifecycle.