Electric buses are cost-efficient, produce zero emissions, and are a lot quieter than diesel buses, says Gerard King, who runs Premier Transport Group.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr King trialed an electric bus produced by China for six months, which ran from Kiama to Nowra - and he wants to see them manufactured locally.
"They're a normal bus underneath, but they don't have an engine or a gearbox, so the servicing costs alone are saved massively by those factors," he said.
"Electricity is also a lot cheaper than the $2.20 per litre in diesel.
"And when looking to the environment, electric engines produce absolutely zero emissions."
Western Sydney-based manufacturer, Custom Denning, received $71 million in federal government funds in February to produce 79 new electric buses for Sydney.
Mr King, who took one of Custom Denning's e-buses for a spin on Tuesday, labeled them "our future of transport".
Liberal candidate for Gilmore, Andrew Constance, shares this sentiment and believes e-buses are one of the ways forward in reducing emissions.
"It makes strong economic sense for operators in terms of the running costs," Mr Constance said.
"But there's a saving to the broader community in terms of reducing the number of people are in health care due to respiratory illness from diesel particulates ... and there are the obvious environmental benefits of reducing emissions."
The NSW Government has committed to transition the state's 8000+ bus fleet to e-buses by 2030.
The former transport minister, who resigned from state politics last year, believes e-buses can be manufactured in the Shoalhaven and pledged to advocate for this if elected in May.
"In order to convert thousands of buses, there's got to be other manufacturing in Australia," Mr Constance said.
"The Shoalhaven is the perfect springboard for that. We've got greenfield space in the Shoalhaven for the purpose of manufacturing.
"I'm going to encourage all manufacturers, that if they can manufacture the buses here, then that's what they should do.
"We're talking up to 200 new jobs."
The recent federal budget lacked funds directed to climate and disaster mitigation, and there were no new dollars for electric vehicles announced.
Mr Constance was not critical of the budget and praised the government's investment into hydrogen, but he said it must "broaden" measures that will reduce emissions.
"The big thing for the environment, we just can't put all our eggs into the hydrogen basket," he said.
"We've got to broaden our thinking. The more local generation of electricity and less loss in transmission the better."
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
