{"id":865699,"date":"2026-07-18T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865699"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:16:12","slug":"a-first-of-its-kind-hits-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/865699\/a-first-of-its-kind-hits-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"A first of its kind hits Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cape Town\u2019s public MyCiTi bus service is going electric, with the prototype e-buses piloted this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Cape Town will soon receive 38 low-floor battery-electric buses as part of the expansion of the MyCiTi bus service to the metro-south east region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These buses are expected to arrive later this year, with plans for them to become operational in 2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new fleet consists of 12-meter Volvo BZRLE battery-electric buses. These are the first MyCiTi buses designed in South Africa and manufactured locally in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe MyCiTi service is now 16 years old. The arrival of our first e-bus is a major highlight in this journey,” said Urban Mobility Mayoral Committee Member, Councillor Rob Quintas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quintas said that the arrival of the first e-bus supports the City of Cape Town’s transition towards a cleaner, more sustainable public transport system that is not only more cost-effective to operate and maintain, but also more resilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome countries operating e-buses have noted a reduction of up to 70% in operating costs,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are eager to see how this bus performs in our local environment in the coming weeks, in particular as we are operating in an increasingly volatile global energy market.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prototype bus has recognisable MyCiTi colours and will be tested on various routes throughout Cape Town.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These routes include Hospital Bend, the N2 highway, and Camps Bay, as well as other suitable areas such as Polkadraai Road and Jip de Jager Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI encourage residents to be on the lookout for this low-floor bus. It will be clearly branded,” said Quintas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot program is said to evaluate the vehicle under various operating conditions throughout the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-bus rollout set for 2027<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Urban Mobility Mayoral Committee Member, Councillor Rob Quintas with the first electric MyCiTi bus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The electric bus fleet is designated for deployment as part of the second phase of the MyCiTi bus service, which will connect Mitchells Plain to Khayelitsha, Wynberg to Claremont, and other routes within the Cape Town CBD, according to Councillor Quintas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research on electric buses is conducted in partnership with the University of Cape Town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to test the e-bus’s performance across different route profiles. Funding comes from the City of Cape Town and a grant from the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pilot aims to assess battery performance, energy consumption, charging times, passenger loading, route profiles, and the effects of Cape Town’s climate on vehicle performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings will reportedly be used by the City of Cape Town to refine its operational planning, including charging strategies, maintenance requirements, driver training, infrastructure readiness, and fleet deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe research will help us understand how the electric buses will perform in our local context, and what challenges we need to consider before we roll out the e-bus fleet in 2027,\u201d said Quintas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis information will ensure that we are well-prepared for the introduction of electric buses into scheduled passenger service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that this operational data will support the rollout of the electric fleet and guide future investments in zero-emission public transport, contributing to a greener, cleaner Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If everything goes according to plan, the first electric buses are set to begin operations by 1 July 2027, with routes planned between Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, between Wynberg and Claremont, and in the Cape Town central business district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quintas explained that more battery-electric buses remain a strategic priority for the City of Cape Town, but that it will depend on the availability of future funding from the National Government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cape Town\u2019s public MyCiTi bus service is going electric, with the prototype e-buses piloted this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":856185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2078480164430749842","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[2356,25767,6816],"class_list":["post-865699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-city-of-cape-town","tag-electric-bus","tag-myciti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865707,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865699\/revisions\/865707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}