FTBCI FBC6120BRS7

FTBCI FBC6120BRS7
Manufacturer	Xiamen Fengtai Bus & Coach International Co., Ltd.
Years in operation	2023 – 2024
Operator	Go-Ahead Singapore
Technical Data
Length	12 metre
Motor	Jing-Jin Electric PMSM
Battery	CATL LFP (423 kWh)
Accessibility	Low Floor
Emission Standard	Zero tailpipe emissions

The FTBCI FBC6120BRS7 is an electric bus built by Chinese manufacturer Fengtai BCI（厦门丰泰国际）. First spotted in Singapore back in November 2022, one demonstrator unit was supplied to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for revenue service trials.

The single-deck bus comes in a low-floor layout with three passenger doors. The demonstrator unit bears the chassis number LA9E6LBA8NFFBC228 and is registered as SG4012C, following in a series of trial buses for LTA (SG400x).

Background

Xiamen Fengtai Bus and Coach International (FTBCI) is a Chinese bus manufacturer. Established in 2011 as a joint venture between Fengtai Group and Australian bus supplier BCI, the company primarily builds buses and coaches for overseas export. Its core markets are Australia and New Zealand, where buses are typically badged as BCI buses. It is also a subsidiary of the Chinese powertrain manufacturer Weichai.

In the electric bus space, FTBCI had previously exported electric buses to the USA, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

As for the broader electric bus market in Singapore, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) last procured 60 electric buses in 2018. Having been built with LTA specifications in mind, this bus could be offered to LTA as a trial, in line with LTA’s ongoing efforts to rapidly electrify the public bus fleet. Half of all public buses will be electric by 2030, which is about 3,000 buses.

Early sightings

A video of the FTBCI electric bus was circulated on the social media site TikTok in late November 2022. The video, which shows the bus being offloaded from a trailer, was taken down shortly after upload.

The bus’ external appearance bears significant resemblance to the Ebusco 2.2, an electric bus offered by Dutch electric bus manufacturer Ebusco. As a partner of Ebusco, FTBCI assembles the Ebusco 2.2 in China, and the final 30% of assembly work is done in Deurne, Netherlands.

Registration & Rollout

The bus was registered on 22 August 2023 to Go-Ahead Singapore. Based at Loyang Bus Depot, it will be recharged at existing 90kW DC (CCS Type 2) electric bus chargers supplied by NARI, which were installed as part of the Yutong E12 & Yutong E12DD rollout.

The bus entered revenue service on 14 November 2023 on Bus Service 384, where it operates regularly. The bus can also be deployed on other services with electric buses such as Bus Service 3 from 17 November 2023, and Pasir Ris Bus Services 359 & 403 from 1 January 2024.

Following the conclusion of the revenue service trials, the bus was returned to Liannex Ecotech.

Specifications

Interior

The FTBCI FBC6120BRS7 is a low-floor single-deck bus, offering step-free access across the entire length of the bus. The three-door configuration promotes ease of passenger access, with all doors being dual-leaf and at least a metre wide.

Seats are supplied of the Ster NewCity model, and upholstered in blue and red, with red seats intended as priority seats. Front wheelarch seats are of a larger design (model: Ster 8MP). Wall-mounted USB charging ports are provided at each seat, rated at 2.1 A output.

Both wheelchair bays are located opposite the exit door. Each bay accommodates one passenger-in-wheelchair (PIW), and the wheelchair backrest contains a foldable seat that doubles as a rear-facing seat. These seats do not contribute to the licensed seating capacity of the bus. USB Charging ports are also provided at both bays.

In addition, a pivoting handlebar is integrated with each wheelchair backrest. It can be manually deployed and stowed depending on the passenger’s needs.

The aisle seat nearest to the middle exit door is removed, likely to facilitate wheelchair movement in this area.

The rear section of the bus features 10 pairs of seats. The seating layout here differs from previous models of three-door demonstrator buses delivered to LTA in the provision of seats behind the exit door; however, this section is raised fairly high above floor level, with two steps needed to reach the last row of seats.

Gallery

Interior

LTA Trial Bus Series:

References:

• Antonwoods Weibo Post [Accessed 1 Jul 2023]
• BCI’s baby born (busnews.com.au) [Accessed 28 Nov 2022]
• Citirider E | Bus & Coach International (bcibus.com.au) [Accessed 28 Nov 2022]
• CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES – BCI’S 2000TH OZ-DELIVERED BUS (busnews.com.au) [Accessed 28 Nov 2022]
• BCI-2021-Product-Book-Supplement-New-Range-Citirider-E.pdf (bcibus.com.au) [Accessed 28 Nov 2022]
• Australasian Bus & Coach 402 February 2021 by Prime Creative Media – Issuu [Accessed 28 Nov 2022]
• Ebusco 2.2 – Ebusco® [Accessed 1 Dec 2022]
• Ebusco celebrates 11th birthday with another order – CBW (cbwmagazine.com) [Accessed 1 Dec 2022]
• JJE SD400 Electric Motor Systems_Jing-Jin Electric|Electric Motor|E-Motor Controller (jjecn.com) [Accessed 8 Sep 2023]