What range issue? Electric bus maker queries claims, points finger at inexperienced drivers

Leadfoot drivers inexperienced with electric buses were probably to blame for any range issues in Transport Canberra’s four leased Custom Denning buses, according to their Australian manufacturer.

A bewildered Custom Denning said range had never been raised as a problem and the last defect report, on 10 January, only listed several minor issues such as an indicator flashing intermittently, a coolant leak, an advisory light on the dash that did not mean the bus was unfit to drive, and a sensor problem.

National relationship manager Mick Neskes told Region the company had decided to take the bus with the sensor issue back to Sydney for investigation but the three others should be able to be dealt with at their Belconnen depot and put into service, although he said there was a hesitancy to work on the electric buses.

Mr Neskes said it was disappointing to hear about problems through the media, and that the first mention of range issues was from Transport Minister Chris Steel when he spoke to reporters last week.

“I spoke to one of the [Transport Canberra] representatives yesterday (Monday) … about other things that we’re actually working on at the moment and he didn’t even raise concerns at all,” he said.

Transport Canberra said in a statement that the range issues were identified soon after departure from depots following extended charging periods.

“The need to remove these buses from the network was due to ongoing risk to service delivery on planned routes,” it said.

But Mr Neskes said some of its buses in the UK had just completed testing with a globally renowned certification company and the reports were positive.

“The thing about electric buses, and this was explained to Transport Canberra as it has with other operators, is that if you drive them like you stole them you will reduce your range,” he said.

Mr Neskes said drivers used to diesel buses needed to be trained to operate the electric bus properly, including regenerative braking.

“If they’re heavy on the pedal taking off and they’re hard on the brake coming to a stop, they’re using a lot of power to take off and they’re not putting regeneration power back into the batteries,” he said.

Mr Neskes said demonstration buses operated by trained drivers achieved close to 550 km, while the same buses in depots where they did not want drivers trained could only achieve 250 to 300 km.

Transport Canberra said it had a well-established driver training program for battery electric buses.

“Decisions about the removal of the buses from service are made by maintenance and operations staff – not drivers,” it said.

Transport Canberra said it had been in regular contact with Custom Denning about previous and current performance issues and it was up to it to decide whether to send a technician to Canberra or return the vehicle to Sydney, which is covered under the warranty conditions of the lease contract.

Mr Neskes said there were no problems with Custom Denning buses running elsewhere.

He said there were teething issues in Tasmania, where a great deal of training was required, but only last week the company had received glowing reports from the operator.

“They’re operating well, they’re on the road, they’ve got no issues,” he said. “It took a long time to get to that point, and let me tell you, the buses didn’t just rectify themselves overnight.

“It was just more about experience with operating the buses.”

Mr Neskes said Custom Denning was committed to getting the Canberra buses back on the road.

The one in Sydney should be returning to Canberra this week.