Go North East has confirmed an order for nine Yutong E10 electric buses, after it secured funding from the Government’s Ultra Low Emission Bus Fund.
Making the announcement on World Environment Day (5 June), it said that the buses “will be an important part of efforts to tackle air pollution, further enhance the quality of bus travel and will also provide valuable operating experience for future electric vehicles.”
The single-deckers have been chosen for the operator’s services between Newcastle and Gateshead following ‘extensive’ trials of a number of different electric buses.
Go North East Managing Director Martijn Gilbert said: “These buses will build on our existing investment which has already seen over 170 low emission buses join our fleet in recent years, with more on the way for the year ahead, as well as an ongoing programme supported by local partners to upgrade the engine emission standards of much of our existing fleet, all further improving the carbon footprint of the 62 million journeys made by our passengers every year.
“There has never been a better time to switch to using our buses from a cost, environmental and health and wellbeing point of view.”
Go North East’s Engineering Director, Colin Barnes, added: “We’ve undertaken extensive trials and analysis of the electric bus types that are currently available in the UK market.
“The distance range of the vehicles, battery life, seating capacity, build quality and warranty were particularly important considerations for us when evaluating the best choice and Yutong came top in all these areas.
“We’ve tried both the E10 and E12 models in our operation and have been very impressed with them.”
The E10s will be the first production models in the UK, Go-Ahead says, and will be supported by overnight electric charging infrastructure from Yutong that will be installed at Go North East’s Gateshead Riverside depot, where the buses will be based.
They are due to enter service in July 2020 and the operator expects to be ordering further electric buses in the coming years.
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