BY: Michelle Liew
The electric bus (EV) which was supposed to operate in Taiping Heritage Town in April this year had to be postponed to September due to damage to electrical components on the bus.
Taiping Municipal Council (MPT) president Khairul Amir Mohamad Zubir said the damage was detected when the vehicle was to be brought for inspection at Puspakom.
“Because the bus had been parked in a store in Cyberjaya for a long time, it was found that there was damage to electrical components and a consultant appointed by Japan has come to make inspections and repairs and get spare parts which are expected to be ready before this July,” he said in a press conference at the event for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Banquet at the MPT Hall here on Tuesday.
Khairul Amir said the bus had a capacity of 22 seats and one seat for the Disabled (OKU) using electricity to ensure the sustainability of nature and a clean city.
The EV bus uses full electric power donated by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the MPT and it will be used as a special tourist bus for the route loop involving the route at 33 Heritage Trails as far as 11.5 kilometres (km).
In December last year, State Health, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Mohd Akmal Kamarudin said the MPT was in the final stages of implementing the use of electric buses on the Taiping heritage trail which would be undertaken by the council itself with the aim of being a catalyst for local heritage tourism.
