Bright red Volvo electric bus begins operations in WA’s Joondalup

The first of four battery electric buses to be rolled out in the Western Australian city of Joondalup has begun operations on one of the council’s Central Area Transit (CAT) routes this week.

The Western Australian government announced this week that Joondalup’s first battery electric bus entered service on the northern suburb’s CAT route on Monday, the first of four electric buses to be rolled out onto the route as part of a larger trial.

“With an eye-catching bright red livery, it will be hard to miss this new electric bus running passengers across Joondalup,” said Rita Saffioti, Western Australia’s transport minister.

“Internally, they look similar to other Transperth buses on the network but with one significant difference – their battery-electric technology makes them cleaner and greener, with minimal greenhouse gas emissions.

“We will use this trial to evaluate a wide range of factors into the technology. We are keen to supply more of these buses and to make them here in WA.”

The buses are being supplied by Volvo as part of the Western Australian Public Transport Authority’s existing bus supply contract. In turn, Volvo has committed to producing any future electric buses locally if the trial should be successful.

As part of the rollout trial of battery electric buses, modifications have also been made to the Joondalup bus depot including the installation of a high-voltage electric vehicle charging system along with a 100kW solar power array connected to a large on-site battery storage system.

“Joondalup is the perfect place for the trial of our first electric CAT bus,” said Joondalup MLA Emily Hamilton.

“I have been campaigning for this trial since 2019 and I am so pleased that from today we will see the first bright red CAT bus hitting the streets of Joondalup. I can’t wait to hear from residents about their thoughts on our new electric buses.”