A driveline produced by Snetterton-based Equipmake is powering the first battery-electric bus to be produced in Argentina, which has entered service in the capital Buenos Aires.
The MT17.0 LEe single-decker has Equipmake’s proprietary Zero Emission Driveline, as fitted to repowered buses in the UK, and has been produced by manufacturer Agrale with a body by Todo Bus.
Entry into service is the latest stage in a five-year project involving Equipmake and partners that was formed to deliver a cost-effective battery-electric bus to suit the South American market.
The Agrale MT17.0 LEe has been developed as part of the Advanced Propulsion Centre-funded Cost Effective Low Entry Bus scheme and a prototype of that model was shown by Equipmake at its headquarters in late 2019.
Operator DOTA S.A has placed the first domestically manufactured example into service, where it is used on route 28 between Liniers and Retiro. The vehicle has Equipmake’s HTM 3500 motor and 318kWh of lithium-ion battery capacity, which is claimed to give a range of up to 250 kilometres and a charging time of between five and seven hours via DC CCS2.
Equipmake adds that it understands DOTA S.A plans to extend its MT17.0 LEe fleet, enabling more zero-emission buses to operate in Buenos Aires. Equipmake previously tested the earlier prototype Agrale MT17.0 LEe in Norfolk before that bus went to Argentina.
Speaking about the service entry of the Argentine-built vehicle, Equipmake CEO Ian Foley says: “We are delighted that DOTA S.A has put this pioneering electric bus into operation in Buenos Aires.
“This is Argentina’s first domestically manufactured e-bus and, together with our partners Agrale and Todo Bus, Equipmake is playing a key role in the acceleration of Buenos Aires’ mission to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and become entirely carbon-neutral by 2050.”
Mr Foley adds that the Equipmake driveline stands to bring “transformative potential” to Buenos Aires over coming years. “Now that the vehicle has demonstrated [that] it has met its performance targets in service, we hope to begin supplying Agrale in the short-term to meet growing South American demand,” he observes.
