Governor Koike Inspects and Gets a Trial Ride of an EV Bus Before Its Debut on Toei Bus Service

Governor Koike on June 9 inspected and had a trial ride of an electric-powered bus before its debut on the Toei Bus service scheduled later the same day in northern Tokyo.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Bureau of Transportation has concluded a business partnership agreement with Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. to build up a model for introducing EV buses in urban areas.

This inspection was made before the debut of two EVs on the service routes managed by the Kita Bus Depot of Toei Bus, under a pilot project to verify the vehicle performance and explore efficient recharging methods for a full-fledged operation of EV buses. It was also attended by Mr. Kobayakawa Tomoaki, the president of TEPCO Holdings, and Mr. Muramatsu Akinori, a managing executive officer of the power company.

“It was a very good ride. The bus ran quietly and accelerated very smoothly. What I felt while aboard the bus was with its floor being full-flat, even older people would be able to move inside the bus with relative ease. On its exterior, the bus is designed basically in royal purple (Edo purple), with some drawings made in green, giving off an impression of looking eco-friendly, fresh and cool,” she said after the inspection and the trial ride.

“There are 80 fuel-cell vehicles run by Toei Bus in Tokyo. As two electric-powered buses join the fleet of Toei buses, we hope they will help the Toei Bus services shift further to the ones run with zero-emission vehicles,” she expressed her hope.

“To realize a decarbonated society in the future, we will move ahead with having various mobility modes shift into zero-emission ones, both through our support to the introduction of zero-emission vehicles and on Tokyo’s own initiatives,” she said.