Electric bus - Mt Buller debut

Mt Buller takes a further step towards reducing the resort’s carbon footprint with the trial of a new electric bus rolling out this month

The low-floor accessible electric vehicle will join the fleet of buses from 13 July, transporting guests between the car parks and the Mt Buller village.

Mt Buller & Mt Stirling Chief Operating Officer Mark Bennetts explained “We have contracts with Orcoda and Busfleet to provide car park shuttles, intra-village shuttles and Rideshare transfers for our visitors each snow season. These vehicles are one of the first touchpoints for people arriving in our beautiful resort. While essential for carrying people into and around the Mt Buller Village, the current vehicles are all diesel powered, which generates green gases and noise. We’re delighted Busfleet has taken the initiative to source and trial an electric vehicle”.

Director of Busfleet, Neil Geddes is keen to test the EV and assess its suitability for the unique conditions at Mt Buller. “We are looking forward to putting the vehicle through its paces in an alpine environment and seeing how it performs with real passenger loads, at cold temperatures and on variable road conditions.  It’s great to have one in our vehicle mix during peak snow season when we can really see what it can do,” he explained.

“We’ll be collecting data all month to assess the vehicle and get real-life information about things like how long each charge lasts, how quickly it can recharge and how it is to drive up and down the hill for our drivers.”

Busfleet has also applied for a grant from the ‘Circular Economy Innovation Fund’ to research options to retro-fit one of the smaller combustion engine shuttle buses in resort with an EV drive train.  Neil Geddes hopes this provides a viable alternative for Village Shuttles and RideShare vans at Mt Buller as they work towards a goal of carbon zero.  

As part of the resort’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions it sees EV’s as an important piece of the future plans for a lower carbon future through a reduced reliance on diesel vehicles.

For more details please contact the Information Centre at Mt Buller Mt Stirling Resort Management on (03) 5777 6077