Skip to main content

Rapid progress with pure electric buses

China is where most of the hybrid and pure electric buses will be made and sold over the coming decade, as discussed in the report by IDTechEx Research, Electric Buses 2015-2025. Given the concentration of government support on long pure electric range from hybrids and the far simpler pure electric buses, the latter are proving very popular. Indeed articulated and double decker buses are available in pure electric form in China. According to the latest statistics from the Chinese bus industry, the total
July 29, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
China is where most of the hybrid and pure electric buses will be made and sold over the coming decade, as discussed in the report by 6582 IDTechEx Research, Electric Buses 2015-2025. Given the concentration of government support on long pure electric range from hybrids and the far simpler pure electric buses, the latter are proving very popular. Indeed articulated and double decker buses are available in pure electric form in China.

According to the latest statistics from the Chinese bus industry, the total sales volume of 4322 Yutong E7 had reached 1,753 units as of April 2015, accounting for 67.9% of the overall sale of medium full electric buses measuring from seven meters to ten meters in length. In May, Yutong E7 maintained growth with a monthly sales volume registering at 167 units. These buses are smaller than the best-selling BYD K9, also from China, which is 12 meters and has one order for 2000 units and several other large orders. The Yutong buses are at the top end of typical school bus sizes in China.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the UK has a severe air pollution challenge too, with hybrid buses and relaxed timescales for low pollution taxis proving an inadequate response, there not even being a date for zero pollution city public transport, the primary polluter. Shamefully, London Oxford Street is the most polluted road in the world. The new Crossrail underground into Oxford Street, opening soon, will help reduce the nose-to-tail bus lines there but they remain hybrid at best, with no pure electric mode.

However, 1466 Transport for London (TfL) has now announced that 476 Arriva has been awarded the contract to operate route 312, which will become the first route in London to be operated entirely by pure electric buses taking about 4500 passengers daily. Arriva, which already operates route 312, was re-awarded the contract after a competitive tender process. The contract will run from September 2015.

There are currently two Optare MetroCity pure electric single deck buses on this route, which runs between South Croydon and Norwood Junction. They have been used as an initial test to establish whether the technology could stand up to the intense urban environment of London. Arriva is currently in talks with bus manufacturers with a view to adding a further seven pure electric buses to the route. A date for conversion to all-electric buses will be confirmed later this year.

Pure electric buses are more expensive to buy but they have much lower noise and vibration levels compared to diesel vehicles including hybrids, with the bus operating company enjoying lower maintenance and running costs and possibly longer life, so reducing pollution is just one of the benefits. The pure electric buses have zero tail pipe emissions, resulting in lower carbon emissions and improved air quality, the only two other ways of getting this with buses being energy harvesting such as solar panels– currently not up to the job on its own and expensive fuel cell buses. As the new IDTechEx report, High Power Energy Harvesting 2016-2026 explains, energy harvesting encompasses solar panels, regenerative braking, shock absorbers creating electricity and many other options. The current trials of pure electric buses, which will at least have regenerative braking, will help TfL develop plans for greater use of pure electric buses in central London in the future, contributing to the Mayor's vision of a central London Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Related Content

  • February 26, 2016
    Traction motors for electric vehicles change radically
    According to Franco Gonzalez, senior technology analyst, IDTechEx, there are about 200 companies making traction motors for electric vehicles, rather like the 200 making the lithium-ion batteries that increasingly power them. However, whereas three types of lithium-ion battery chemistry and construction are taking almost all of the business, with traction motors the situation is much more complex because the diversity of needs calls for many very different types of motor from brushless out-runner motors for
  • January 9, 2018
    Authorities switch on to all electric buses as costs tumble
    Alan Dron looks at changes in bus propulsion as cities look to improve air quality and seek to reduce maintenance costs. Despite the ending of various incentives to adopt alternative fuels, the introduction of electric buses by US transit authorities is picking up speed as performance improves, costs drop and air quality considerations become increasingly significant. More US bus manufacturers are introducing zero-emission models and some recent contracts will see many more passengers getting their first
  • March 6, 2015
    New range extenders for hybrid electric vehicles in 2015
    According to the IDTechEx report Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles Land, Water & Air 2015-2025, over eight million hybrid cars will be made in 2025, with a range extender, the additional power source that distinguishes them from pure-electric. They will also be in buses, military vehicles and boats: a major new market overall. Today's range extenders consist of little more than off-the-shelf internal combustion engines. They are being replaced by second-generation range extenders - piston engines design
  • June 6, 2017
    Over nine million hybrid cars will be made in 2027 - each with a range extender
    Research firm IDTechEx believes we are in the decade of the hybrid electric vehicle, despite the fact that most off-road, electric two-wheelers and underwater vehicles are pure electric. Indeed, most electric aircraft are pure electric as well.