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.
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