Lima, the electric revolution takes the bus

Reducing the national carbon footprint by 30% by 2030:  this is the pledge made by Peru as it continues on its smooth path towards decarbonisation. And in order to do so, the South American nation has truly moved up a gear. Lima, the country’s capital, has just launched the electrification of the city’s public transport system with the introduction of a new 100% electric bus.

The project, which was set up a few days ago, was developed through the collaboration between GSEP (the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership) and its partner companies, Enel X and Hydro-Québec. These two organisations will be responsible for maintaining the charging infrastructure, which was specially designed and developed to meet the city’s specific requirements, for the next three years. Lima’s first e-bus, which is 12m in length, can carry 80 passengers and is run by the Allin Group, the local Protransporte operator. It will serve the Corredor Rojo (the “Red Corridor”), one of the city’s busiest routes.

Peru follows the best practices already “in action” in other Latin American countries like Chile, where the capital Santiago has 287 100% electric buses which are served by eight electro terminals. Colombia is also working to install three charging infrastructures in the capital city of Bogotà for the use of 379 e-buses (this is due for launch soon).

Lima’s new electric bus offers a significant opportunity to gather data about the real-time functioning of the vehicle. For the first year, information about speed, battery performance, operations, costs and environmental impact will be gathered and analysed by GSEP with the aim of creating a replication report to guide the Peruvian government as it endeavours to electrify the public transport system of the entire nation. The challenge is clear: reduce CO2 emissions in the capital and then repeat the model in the rest of the country.

The electric bus will navigate the traffic of Lima without emitting any form of polluting gas while spreading the increasingly essential “electric culture” to raise public awareness. The replication report will also be useful in this respect as it will provide tangible confirmation of the savings generated by the low maintenance costs of electric buses in comparison with their diesel or natural gas predecessors. Furthermore, the electric bus reduces perceived acoustic pollution and offers its passengers a range of amenities including USB sockets, free Wi-Fi, closed circuit cameras and air conditioning.

All this is for a transport system that serves everyone and is increasingly smart and decidedly green.