Sustainable transport in tourism

Summary

Need

The Project seeks to overcome the barriers to accelerate uptake of Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) by fleets, by demonstrating that BEV’s can be operated as a significant percentage of regional tourism operators.   

Action

Tropic Wings will acquire and deploy twelve electric buses which will be charged at remote locations using charging infrastructure they have installed at two of their business locations. The Project seeks to demonstrate the viability of BEVs for replacing ICE heavy duty vehicles used predominantly in regional locations which lack charging infrastructure.  

The business aims to acquire two new Battery Energy Supply Systems (BESS) while also installing infrastructure to utilise entirely renewable energy sources.  

This transition identified a three-tiered approach to accessing renewable energy for vehicle charging, including: self-utilisation of on-site rooftop solar PV either used directly or indirectly via a battery, supply via the Queensland grid based average renewable energy supply or purchasing certified “Green Energy” from an energy retailer either via a customised retail tariff or purchase of Large Generation Certificates to offset grid-sourced energy. 

Outcome

The Project aims to overcome barriers to accelerate uptake of Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) by fleets by demonstrating that BEVs can be operated as a significant percentage of regional tourism operations. Knowledge gained from this Project will assist the transition to BEVs for the small to medium sized tour operator market in Australia. This Project will utilise new use cases for three types of BEVs previously untested in Australia. There is potential for this Project to lead to BEV transition within Australia’s tourism sector, as a demonstration of how BEVs can be used in remote areas, where timing is irregular, and routes often vary. In addition, the Project will be a demonstration of successful BEV operation in a regional area with limited options for local charging.