First electric buses hit London’s streets

Transport for London (TfL) and bus operator Go-Ahead London have begun a trial of the capital’s first electric buses on two routes in the city. The 12-metre single deck buses were built by Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto have zero tail pipe emissions, resulting in lower carbon emissions. The trial will help TfL develop plans for greater use of electric buses in central London in the future, supporting the Mayor’s vision of a central London Ultra Low Emission Zone. The trial will be used to establish wh
December 19, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
1466 Transport for London (TfL) and bus operator Go-Ahead London have begun a trial of the capital’s first electric buses on two routes in the city.

The 12-metre single deck buses were built by Chinese manufacturer 5445 BYD Auto have zero tail pipe emissions, resulting in lower carbon emissions. The trial will help TfL develop plans for greater use of electric buses in central London in the future, supporting the Mayor’s vision of a central London Ultra Low Emission Zone.

The trial will be used to establish whether the technology can stand up to the rigours of operating in an intense urban environment such as London.  The manufacturer’s tests demonstrated a potential running cost saving of around 75 per cent compared to a diesel bus.  The buses take around four to five hours to fully charge overnight and should have a range of 250 kilometres, which would be sufficient to operate these buses for a full day on these routes without the need to recharge.

In addition to the two buses in this trial, six additional electric buses will be introduced into the TfL fleet in early 2014.  Four of the buses were secured with funding from the Department of Transport (DfT) Green Bus Fund with a further two funded from TfL’s technology demonstration budget.

Mike Weston, TfL’s Director of Buses, said: “We will be closely monitoring the performance of these vehicles while they are being trialled here in London.  Should the performance and reliability of these buses meet London’s challenging requirements, this could be a very important step towards adopting this new clean technology in the capital.”

John Trayner, Managing Director of Go-Ahead London, said: “We are delighted to be partnering TFL and BYD on this exciting new project to run the first electric buses on London's streets.”

Isbrand Ho, Managing Director of BYD Europe, said today “We are convinced that widespread adoption of the BYD ebus could have a dramatic effect on lowering pollution levels in major cities so this development in London, one of the world’s top cities, is of tremendous importance. We look forward to a long and positive relationship with Transport for London and Go-Ahead London and to further deliveries of our market leading products in London and other UK Cities.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Siemens to deliver charging solutions to electric buses to Denmark
    April 11, 2018
    Siemens has entered a three-year agreement with Denmark’s public transport authority Movia to deliver charging stations with a top-down pantograph for electric buses to help slash particle and noise pollution and CO2 emissions. The transaction could potentially benefit 45 municipalities including the city of Copenhagen and Region Zealand. Last year, these towns and two regions of Zealand made a commitment to achieve C02-neutral bus transport by 2030 as part of Movia’s Mobility Plan 2016. In addition, t
    Read More
  • Smart parking at London Underground
    December 17, 2014
    Transport for London (TfL) is to implement a ‘smart parking’ system at 31 of its off-street car parks that support key locations across the London Underground network. 1,500 of Smart Parking’s RFID-equipped SmartEye vehicle detection sensors, linked via SmartLink data transmitters into the company’s SmartRep management application, will be installed across TfL’s off-street car park network. The five-year agreement, which will include the provision of equipment, maintenance and hosting, will enable car pa
    Read More
  • VW and Shell try to block EU push for electric cars
    April 29, 2016
    VW and Shell have united to try to block Europe’s push for electric cars and more efficient cars, saying biofuels should be at heart of efforts to green the industry instead. The EU is planning two new fuel efficiency targets for 2025 and 2030 to help meet promises made at the Paris climate summit last December. But executives from the two organisations launched a study on Wednesday night proposing greater use of biofuels, CO2 car labelling, and the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) instead.
    Read More
  • San Francisco to trial ‘smart’ street lighting controls
    January 21, 2014
    San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is to trial a ‘smart’ street lighting central management system, (CMS) developed by UK-based smart street lighting company Telensa. The SFPUC owns, operates and maintains over half the city’s street lights and recently announced a project to replace its high pressure sodium cobra-head style light fixtures with ultra-efficient light emitting diodes (LED) luminaires. Telensa’s PLANet (Public Lighting Active Network) street light central management sys
    Read More

Highlighted Content