Page 21 - Commercial Vehicle Engineer - December 2019

Joe Ma at Shenzhen Bus Group
Streets ahead
New standards in this country, maybe.
But old hat by comparison with what has been happening in China. Even with all the activity in London and elsewhere, there are reckoned to be no more than about 400 battery-electric (so not including diesel/ electric hybrids) buses now in service in the UK. The number in service in China is put at about 400,000.
What can UK eet operators learn from their Chinese counterparts about the process of switching from diesel to electric, especially with regard to operating costs? Few people are better placed than Joe Ma to answer such questions authoritatively. Ma is deputy general manager at Shenzhen Bus Group (SBG), a state-owned bus franchisee and the biggest bus operator in Shenzhen,
a city with a population of about 13 million and home to a host of giant technology enterprises including Huawei and Tencent.
BYD is also based in Shenzhen but Ma is quick to point out that it would be entirely wrong for anyone to assume that this means that no other bus and car manufacturer is seriously in the running for SBG orders. He makes it clear that every supplier must be able to meet strict demands on total vehicle operating costs.
Battery life
Take the crucial question of electric bus battery life, for instance. Even though the switch from diesel to electric was started at SBG as long ago as 2008, initially with diesel/electric hybrid drivelines but then three years later with 100 all-electric
Shenzhen Bus Group: largest operator of “new energy” buses anywhere. Responsibility for overnight bus charging is sub-contracted to charging system providers.
ELECTRIC BUSES IN CHINA
buses, Ma admits that he still cannot say with certainty what the life of a bus battery pack will be.
“The warranty we demand from BYD stipulates that if at any time in the planned eight-year life of the bus its battery pack capacity falls below 80% then the pack will be replaced,” he explains. “We have had some drop below 80% and BYD has honoured the warranty.”
Though responsibility for maintaining battery packs, their on-board management systems and electric motors lies primarily with SBG’s vehicle
suppliers, Ma points out that the company’s own maintenance staff have had to be retrained as a result of the switch from diesel to electric. “So we’ve opened up our workshops to x other operators’ electric vehicles,” he says.
What about driver training, especially when it comes to recharging batteries instead of refuelling diesel tanks? “Driving electric buses is relatively easy,” says Ma. “But we don’t want drivers plugging in buses to charging points. This is sub-contracted to our charging system providers.”
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER > DECEMBER 2019 21