Electro.Aero charging Australia’s first trackless tram project

Sylvia Tokic CEO and co-founder at Electro Base and Riche Watson charger product manager at Electro.Aero deliver the charger unit. (credit: Electro Base)

Electro.Aero has built and tested a charger which will be used to charge Australia’s first trackless tram project in the city of Stirling, just north of Perth.

The portable 80kW charger can fully charge the Tram in less than an hour, according to Joshua Portlock, founding innovation partner at parent firm Electro Base. The 30-metre-long tram arrived in Stirling back in September and is undergoing a range of operational tests. A community event will be held at the Stirling’s administration centre on 26 November to give the local community a chance to take a free ride on the tram. 

“We’re proud to be supporting the Stirling Trackless Tram project with our versatile and portable 80kW charger, that can fully charge the Tram in less than an hour,” Portlock said on LinkedIn. “Credit to our Electro Base CEO Sylvia Tokic for prioritising this local opportunity and our colleagues at Electro.Aero Richie Watson, Marcus Pham and Alishan Aziz for their swift responsiveness building and testing a suitable solution in days that would probably take other teams months.”

The trial, funded by the Commonwealth Government, will continue until the end of November. Stirling Mayor Mark Irwin said: “It is really important for us to understand what our community think about the Trackless Tram as part of this trial. They will be the future users of this public transport system and we want to know whether this is going to encourage them to make the switch out of their cars and onto the tram to get from the city to the beach.

“I would encourage everyone to get on board this new technology at one of the city’s Trackless Tram events to experience the benefits of this cutting-edge technology first-hand,” he added.

The project is being delivered with partners Curtin University, CRRC, Shanghai Electric and Infrastructure Technology Solutions.

CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, the makers of the trackless tram, first launched the vehicle in partnership with Shanghai Municipal Government in early 2021. There are now trackless tram operations proposed globally, including Malta.