Oakville adds 15 electric buses to public transport fleet

The Town of Oakville, Canada, will introduce 15 new Nova LFSE+ l40-foot electric buses to its fleet this month. It plans to add 29 more small and large-capacity electric buses in the next two years.

The 40-foot (12-metre) buses by Volvo Group subsidiary Nova Bus, which are now joining the public transport fleet, will replace “some existing diesel buses currently in service.” And it is not the first time Oakville has purchased EVs from manufacturer Nova: 30 of the latter’s buses are already in service in the Canadian town.

The LFSe+ is based on the well-known stainless steel structure of the LFS model, and the revised electric version can be equipped with batteries of up to 564 kWh. Using a pantograph, the battery is charged via cable at the depot or on the go. Compared to the LFSe, the LFSe+ uses a different electric drive with ZF axles and offers slightly higher passenger capacity.

In the case of Oakville, the buses have a range of up to 350 kilometres. The city adds that most fixed routes require “about 225 kilometres of travel in a day.” The city also says that the Oakville Transit facility is getting a 37,000 sq. ft extension that will house “an innovative electrification system with automated charging infrastructure, along with sustainability features to ensure energy efficiency.”

The buses are funded through the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream (PTIS) of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). According to the press release, the Canadian government, the government of Ontario, and the town of Oakville are investing a total of 66.7 million CAD through the ICIO to electrify Oakville Transit’s fleet.

The electric buses are sold in the US and Canada and are manufactured at Nova Bus’ factory in Saint-Eustache and Saint-François-du-Lac (Quebec). The company previously also manufactured its vehicles in the US, but in 2023, it announced that it would close its Plattsburgh manufacturing and delivery facility by 2025.

oakville.ca, linkedIn.com

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