While the influence of Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom is part of New Zealand’s electric bus industry, China’s influence is also strong.

Several New Zealand companies, not content to purchase e-buses elsewhere, are developing electric bus manufacturing in New Zealand.

* – In 2018 Kiwi Bus Builders started to build 10 fully electric double-decker city buses for the Greater Wellington Regional Council. These were the first electric double-deckers in the Southern Hemisphere and the first of them was launched at Parliament on July 5, 2018. These buses have a capacity of 68 seated passengers and 16 standees and have the ability to re-charge in under six minutes to give a 100km (62 mile) range.

By 2021 Kiwi Bus Builders, based near the city of Tauranga in the North Island’s Bay of Plenty Region, were building 31 more double-decker electric buses, with air conditioning. With the technology in battery operation improving, this second-generation electric bus has a 200km (124 mile) range on a six-minute fast charge.

* – Alexander Dennis (ADL), the largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, has manufacturing plants and partnerships in New Zealand, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.

By June 2021, ADL’s electric buses in New Zealand had chalked up more than one million kilometers of zero-emission operation, avoiding more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

In December 2021, Chinese automobile giant BYD partnered with ADL to begin the production of electric buses, a model known as BYD ADL Enviro200EV XLB. These ultra-long, three-axle, electric buses will be operated by Transdev subsidiary Howick & Eastern in east Auckland.

The BYD ADL Enviro200EV XLB combines BYD’s lithium iron phosphate battery technology and a full battery cruising range of 300 kilometers. It is built in New Zealand by ADL’s partner Kiwi Bus Builders on a BYD chassis. All components fitted on the 12.6 meter-long bus are supplied by BYD.

ADL’s General Manager in New Zealand, Tony Moore, said, “The launch of our extra-large electric bus marks an exciting new chapter in our partnership with Auckland Transport. After bringing the first electric buses to the city in 2018, we now have a zero-emission bus that is fully designed to New Zealand requirements – and is made locally, boosting the economy and supporting skilled jobs.”

Auckland Transport Metro Decarbonisation Manager Darek Koper said the introduction of this new three-axle electric bus completes the procurement of the zero-emissions trial bus fleet.

“This trial fleet provides a range of options for New Zealand bus operators, and it will build operator confidence in new technology,” Koper said. “It will also allow them to understand operational requirements and costs to inform future procurement decisions, while supporting the accelerated transition to zero emission buses in Auckland.”

To date, the manufacturer has supplied 18 BYD ADL Enviro200EV electric buses to transport authorities and operators in New Zealand, with more on order.

* – Electric Autobus: This Wellington-based company supplies two and three axle, single and double decker electric buses currently serving cities across New Zealand.

Electric Autobus sources its chassis and powertrains from CRRC Corporation Limited, a Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer – the world’s largest rolling stock manufacturer in terms of revenue.

“Yet our buses are local,” Electric Autobus says on its website. “They are customised to meet New Zealand customer and regulatory requirements as well as New Zealand’s climate and road conditions.  Each bus model is co-designed with local engineers and built with the option for localisation in mind.”

* – NZ Bus: One of New Zealand’s largest urban bus operators, NZ Bus has been actively transitioning to electric buses. They have deployed 33 electric buses in Auckland and are committed to further electrifying their fleet. In the past, NZ Bus has purchased buses from manufacturers that include Alexander Dennis Limited; Yutong, based in Zhengzhou, China ; and BYD,  which stands for Build Your Dreams, a publicly listed Chinese multinational manufacturing company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

NZBus has signed a deal with Wrightspeed, a company founded by Ian Wright, a Kiwi and co-founder of Tesla, to retrofit NZBus’s fleet with electric engines, contributing to a greener public transport system.

* – Tranzit: Tranzit Coachlines, the largest New Zealand family-owned and operated bus and coach company, has launched New Zealand’s first fully electric bus network in the city of Palmerston North and its suburb, Ashhurst. The project was delivered by Horizons Regional Council and contracted to Tranzit.

* – The biggest carbon reduction was achieved by the fleet of initially six, later eight, electric buses run by the ferry operator Fullers360 on Auckland Transport services on Waiheke Island, which have prevented the emission of 300 tonnes of CO2 in just eight months. Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand off the north coast of the country’s North Island.

* – Fuel Cell electric buses are part of New Zealand’s plan, and in March 2021 the Canadian company Ballard Power Systems, based in Vancouver announced that Ballard’s FCmove fuel cell module is powering the first fuel cell electric bus made in New Zealand. The fuel cell bus was designed and built by Global Bus Ventures.

Rob Campbell, Ballard chief Commercial Officer said, “This important step in New Zealand is another clear indication of the growing global interest in fuel cells as the primary propulsion system for medium and heavy-duty motive applications, including transit buses, where key requirements include heavy payload, long range and fast refueling.”