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The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be rolling out 20 new three-door electric buses progressively from today (August 25).

These buses will be deployed on services 38, 40, 176, and 976.

Currently, there are 40 fully-electric buses already deployed on Singapore roads.

But unlike these, the 20 new electric buses have one key difference: they will be charged using pantograph chargers, which are currently only available at Bedok and Bukit Panjang Bus Interchanges.

Pantograph chargers are basically overhead chargers, and they look like this:

The pantograph charger will lower its connector onto the bus once the bus captain activates it.

The charger has a high power rating of up to 450kW, which means that it can charge a bus within 10 to 15 minutes, whenever the bus is on its layover at an interchange.

If you want the technical details of how a pantograph charger works, Land Transport Guru has an informative piece that you can check out.

Quieter rides

Like the other electric buses that currently ply Singapore's roads, these new electric buses will be quieter and boast commuter-friendly features.

It has an ambient noise level of around 75 decibels, which is three decibels lower than that of a typical Euro 6 diesel bus.

The use of a third door encourages commuters to move to the rear, and brings about better commuter flow. The middle door has a ramp for wheelchair users.

The buses are also equipped with passenger information display systems to show route-specific information, such as upcoming bus stops and destinations.

Top images via LTA

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