Nottingham’s historic Trent Bridge bus garage, once home to horse drawn trams, now has a new zero carbon future as Nottingham City Transport (NCT) has ordered its first electric single-deck buses and appointed Zenobē Energy as the delivery partner for the electrification of a fleet of 78 buses.
Electric vehicle fleet and battery storage specialist Zenobē will supply the charging infrastructure to Trent Bridge, which housed horse-drawn and electric trams when it opened in 1901. Drawing on its extensive work with some of the major bus companies in the UK, Zenobē will also manage construction, delivery and implementation of its charging software, working to optimise the fleet and provide an efficient service for the operator. The infrastructure will be designed from the start to allow NCT to extend the electric fleet in future, aligned with the operator’s net-zero ambitions.
Pelican Bus & Coach will deliver the first 12 zero-emission electric buses to join the NCT fleet, which already contains a large number of gas-powered vehicles. They are expected to enter service in late 2023. The Yutong E12 buses will feature full air-conditioning, and provide a quiet travelling experience that offers free WiFi and USB charging points on board.
Liam O’Brien, NCT’s Head of Engineering said: “Following a rigorous public procurement process and operational trials of several electric buses, Yutong Bus & Coach and Zenobē were the clear winner to deliver our first electric buses. The buses are superior in terms of space and comfort for passengers and have air-conditioning as standard. With the software and charging service provided by Zenobē, the buses can do a full day’s operation on a single overnight charge, which is essential for ensuring we can keep them all on the road throughout the day, providing a better, cleaner service for our customers.”
Ian Downie, Head of Yutong UK at Pelican Bus & Coach, said: “We are absolutely delighted and honoured to have been awarded this contract to work in partnership with NCT. The vehicles will be completed at our family owned dealership in Castleford, and we look forward to supporting Nottingham on its zero-emission journey.”
Steven Meersman, co-founder and Director at Zenobē, added: “We’re thrilled to be delivering our first infrastructure in Nottingham and to be working in collaboration with Nottingham City Transport. We know that bringing 78 buses to the local area will have a huge impact on emissions and bring the city of Nottingham closer to its ambition of being carbon neutral by 2028. We are proud to be a part of this project. Working across the public and private sector is essential to scaling emissions faster, and we’re looking forward to delivering a greener service to the city.”
When NCT’s electric bus project is fully delivered, an estimated 3,800 tonnes of CO2e will be saved each year. Over the lifetime of the buses, they will also make a significant contribution to wider efforts to improve air quality, with an estimated 31 tonnes of harmful NOx and 777kg of PM2.5 removed from the atmosphere. The £34m project is being supported with £15.2m from the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) fund.
