Sydney-based manufacturer Custom Denning says it hadn't been told of any concerns about the range of its electric buses before it was revealed they'd been taken out of transport Canberra's in-service fleet. But the ACT government insists it's been in regular contact with the company about previous and current performance issues.
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00:00Having now built 166 element electric buses, Custom Denning says reports four of its buses
00:09are being taken off the road in Canberra due to range concerns were unexpected.
00:14Finding out about this range concern, that was the basis for yesterday's story.
00:20To find out today that that was the case, it's just not accurate.
00:25The vehicles only went into service in June, after being delivered in late 2023.
00:30Yesterday, Transport Minister Chris Steele said some of the buses would be returned to the Sydney manufacturers for repairs,
00:36having been relegated to short routes due to lacklustre performance.
00:40But Custom Denning says it has only received a report of one issue per bus,
00:45an indicator light intermittently flashing fast, a coolant leak,
00:49a dashboard advisory for the battery being below optimum temperature,
00:54something it says isn't actually a fault,
00:56and a possible faulty coolant temperature sensor,
01:00the only issue that actually requires a vehicle to be returned to their workshop.
01:04We've only had to bring one bus back at this stage,
01:06that's because we felt that there was further investigation needed,
01:09it was just a sensor issue which we're dealing with,
01:12but as for the other issues, we can attend to those at the depot.
01:16Metro Tasmania also had some technical issues during a recent trial of the same vehicles,
01:21but says it had positive feedback from operators and passengers.
01:25Custom Denning says operating EVs can be a steep learning curve.
01:29There are indicators on the dash to notify the drivers when there's certain things happening with the bus,
01:34however drivers can often see those as being an actual concern.
01:37In a statement, Transport Canberra insists it has been in regular contact with Custom Denning
01:43about previous and current performance issues,
01:46and the need to remove these buses from the network
01:49was due to ongoing risk to service delivery on planned routes.
01:52This included range issues that were identified soon after departure from the depots
01:57following extended charging periods.
01:59The spokesman said decisions about the removal of the buses from service
02:03are made by maintenance and operations staff, not drivers.
02:07Whatever the issues, Custom Denning says it will continue to work with the ACT Government
02:12to resolve concerns.