Golden Arrow Bus Services has made the historic move to purchase 120 electric buses.
According to a press statement, delivery of the new energy vehicles (NEV) is scheduled to start later this year, with all expected to be operational before December 2025.
Also read: Sustainability delegates tour CT on a Golden Arrow electric bus
The buses were purchased from Chinese NEV BYD and feature similar specifications to the bulk of the current Golden Arrow fleet.
Francois Meyer, Golden Arrow Bus Services and Frontier Transport Holdings’ CEO, says the purchase marks a turning point for the company’s future. ‘This bulk order confirms our commitment to renewable energy and will also provide us with the larger-scale operational data to pave the way towards full fleet electrification.’
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Company Engineer Gideon Neethling says his team is working hard to ensure that Golden Arrow can optimally implement large-scale fleet electrification.
‘We are intensively preparing our workforce and infrastructure to operate a system with complex requirements, and this will involve many exciting future partnerships.’
Golden Arrow’s renewable energy journey started in 2017 with the purchase of two 25kWp solar panels. In 2020, the company increased its solar capacity of 2 000 kWp, resulting in carbon-neutral electricity status for two of its facilities.
That same year, Golden Arrow, BYD and uYilo (co-funder) tested two 100% electric buses for 12 months.
In 2021, two BYD buses were officially integrated into service, and another BYD bus was purchased in 2022. In 2023, the company introduced the fourth test bus, completing approximately 200 000km of road testing.
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Picture: Golden Arrow Bus Services / Facebook