Alexander Dennis (ADL) and BYD Europe’s electric vehicle partnership has supplied the first of 29 BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deckers to National Express West Midlands in the UK.
The buses are charged entirely by renewable energy and use a stationery battery system to balance the load on the electricity grid.
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A heat pump system ensures saloon heating power is supplied from the main batteries without undue impact on operational range.
The first 19 of the zero-emission buses have now entered service in Birmingham, where the operator’s 80-year old Yardley Wood garage has been retrofitted with plug chargers for each bus along with a stationery battery, provided by Zenobe Energy, which balances the load on the grid.
Some ten further vehicles will be introduced in Coventry in the autumn. The investment has been supported with a GBP3m (US$3.8m) grant from the UK government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles.
“At National Express, zero-emission is not the future – it’s the here-and-now,” said National Express UK MD, Tom Stables.
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By GlobalData“Our bus fleet will be zero emission by 2030 and we’re very proud to bring fully electric buses to the people of the West Midlands.”
For his part, ADL chief executive, Colin Robertson added: “National Express has taken the decision to never buy another diesel bus, the first UK bus operator to do so.
“We have worked in close collaboration with National Express West Midlands and our partner BYD to ensure these first 29 electric buses are a great start into a zero-emission future for Birmingham, Coventry and the wider West Midlands.”
More than 250 BYD ADL Enviro400EV buses have been sold to date and two thirds of them are in service in UK cities.
