The City of Cape Town (CoCT) says its Urban Mobility Directorate will take delivery of its first electric bus in August, with another 13 electric buses to arrive between October and December this year.

The city, in a media release, says it intends to roll out the electric bus fleet along the MyCiTi routes that operate in the metro-southeast, including the new routes that will form part of Phase 2A.

All-in-all, the city notes, it will take delivery of 30 low-floor electric buses between August this year and June 2027.

These are 12 m Volvo BZRLE electric buses and the first where the bus bodies are manufactured locally, in Johannesburg.

“The delivery of the electric bus fleet cannot be more timeous, given the volatility of the energy markets and uncertain geopolitical environment.

“Apart from lowering our carbon emissions, an electric bus fleet could offer multiple other benefits, especially as far as maintenance and operational costs are concerned.

“Some countries operating e-buses have noted a reduction of up to 70% in operating costs and we will be conducting research soon to determine what type of savings Cape Town can look forward to,” says the city’s Urban Mobility MMC Rob Quintas.

The city, together with the University of Cape Town, will in coming months undertake research to test and understand how electric buses will operate as part of the City’s MyCiTi bus fleet.

The electric bus research is funded by the CoCT and through a grant from the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative.

The city explains that the electric buses will be tested on existing MyCiTi routes for a period of about 12 months to determine how the buses perform on different route profiles; how long the batteries last once charged; the impact of passenger numbers, the route profile and climate on the battery discharging; as well as how long it takes to charge the batteries.

“The research will help us understand how the electric buses will perform in our local context, and what challenges we need to consider before we roll out the e-bus fleet in 2027.

“This information will assist us with planning and preparations, such as the training of the bus drivers, maintenance requirements, passenger loads, fault reporting, and so forth,” says Quintas.

If all goes as planned, the city says, the first electric buses will start operating by July 1, 2027, between Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, Wynberg and Claremont, as well as the Cape Town central business district.

The city says the acquisition of more electric buses remains a priority, but will depend on the availability of budget from the national government.