The Original Tour has unveiled its brand-new electric open-top double-decker – the first of its kind in London. Peter Jackson attended the launch event
Electric buses have become quite a common site on the capital’s streets in recent years – a consequence of the city’s impending Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and mounting pressure to improve air quality.
Often left behind in the race to slash emissions, though, are open-top tour buses. These vehicles are sometimes older than their closed-roofed counterparts, so have some catching up to do in cities like [wlm_nonmember][…]
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With that in mind, this bright green UNVI Urbis – introduced by RATP Dev subsidiary The Original Tour – is a refreshing addition to London’s fleet. Unveiled last Thursday in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, this is London’s first electric ‘hop-on hop-off’ open-top bus.
The 12m double-decker will be pressed into service from Saturday 13 October on the operator’s Yellow route, allowing tourists (75 to be precise) to enjoy the likes of St Paul’s, The Shard and the Gherkin like never before.
Passenger perspective
When I say ‘like never before’ I really mean it; it’s surprising just how much the electric powertrain adds to the experience of travelling through London. The lack of engine noise and vibration – combined with the uninterrupted, smooth acceleration that only an electric vehicle can provide – makes you feel somehow separate from all the chaos going on around you. It’s like travelling on a low-flying cloud.
The Original Tour says that the vehicle’s 150km range means it can complete six loops of the Yellow route before it runs out of juice, or a total of 11.5 hours of driving. It’s expected to be operating seven days a week, and on an average day in service will make 125 stops on a single charge.
The operator has opted to charge the vehicle overnight at its Grade II-listed Wandsworth depot, a process which takes four and a half hours.
Team effort
This particular bus is one of two delivered to RATP Dev, with the other example being launched in Paris in April – making it the world’s first electric open-topper. The vehicles were developed by four companies: UNVI took care of the body and chassis and managed the project; Ziehl Abegg produced the electric axles; BMZ provided the batteries and SAF took care of the co-ordination system.
Keen to find out how the partnership came about, I spoke to The Original Tour’s Operations Director, Thierry Couturier.
“The process started about two years ago,” he explained. “There was a desire from RATP Dev in Paris to find an alternative source of energy to power open-top vehicles, and we were aware of the ULEZ policy in London which was going to kick in.
“They couldn’t find what they were after already on the market, so one of the people involved managed to get a few suppliers together to discuss developing something new.
“Work began on the prototype towards the end of 2016, and it was this first prototype which was unveiled in Paris in April. They have been designed from scratch as a fully electric vehicle, as opposed to just being a conversion of an existing design.
“The two vehicles are mostly the same, but the one in Paris is one metre longer; we decided to go for a shorter vehicle for London due to the configuration of the streets here.
“From a chassis point of view, there were minor adjustments between the two vehicles. Also, in France when you have a bus with space for over 51 passengers, you need to install two staircases. The London bus only has the one.
“Operating in London, it’s clearly a requirement for us to comply with the Mayor and TfL’s expectations – and the ULEZ is an important one. So, it’s ideal for us to have the first vehicle to test now, before it comes into effect, to establish the advantages of full-electric power.”
Keeping an open mind
Buying brand-new electric buses is by no means considered as the only way forward by the operator, however, as Thierry pointed out: “This is a fantastic vehicle, but it’s not cheap – you’ve got to be able to afford it. So we’re also looking at alternatives such as gas or retrofits from companies like Magtec.
“Because of the profile of our fleet, we have vehicles which still have a lot of value – it doesn’t make sense to just dump them.”
By contrast to many of the other electric buses currently running in London, The Original Tour’s UNVI has required little in the way of investment in infrastructure: “This technology here only requires charging at the garage. This prototype has a single charging unit at the depot, but the next-generation vehicle will have an onboard charger. This will make it a bit more practical at a garage level.
“Where we’re currently based in London, we could increase our electric fleet to between five and 10 vehicles without any further investment into a sub-station or the grid.”
Thierry made it clear that the launch event was merely the beginning of the company’s efforts to reduce emissions: “Of course, it’s exciting to launch the vehicle after two years of development. But the interesting work is really going to be making sure it delivers when it comes to efficiency.
“This vehicle also has regenerative braking, which means that drivers have to be trained on the regeneration of power. That’s very important for us; drivers need to understand how the system works in order to get the most out of it. It’s slightly different to the use of a retarder on a diesel bus, but it’s the same principle.”
Although the quoted range is 150km, “the last time we did that, we still had 20% left on the battery,” said Thierry.
“We see this new vehicle as the end of a chapter in a way, and the beginning of a new one.”
The first of many
Also in attendance at the event was London’s Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodriguez. She praised the new vehicle, saying: “To help tackle the air pollution health crisis in London we have taken bold action to ‘green’ the bus fleet and cut toxic vehicle emissions, and it is fantastic that we now have the UK’s first fully electric sightseeing bus on the capital’s streets.
“With six months to go until the introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London, electric vehicles are growing in popularity, and people are more aware than ever of the harmful pollution older buses and vehicles can emit.
“I want to congratulate The Original Tour on the first of many brilliant green sightseeing buses.”
Meanwhile, Ronan Bois, Sightseeing Business Unit Director at RATP Dev, said: “Every day, people rely on us to discover the best of the most iconic cities around the world and we’re investing in innovation for a new generation of sightseers. We’re proud to be the first sightseeing network to introduce a 100% electric bus in London, showing our commitment to our customers, the city and the community.”
Jane Lewis, Managing Director of The Original Tour, added: “We’ve always been daringly original, creating memories that last a lifetime for people from all over the world.
“Today they are increasingly eco-conscious and we’re responding to exactly that. The Original Tour has been bringing the capital’s iconic sights to life for longer than anyone else but today we can point to a landmark of our own.
“This new 100% electric hop-on hop-off open-top sightseeing bus represents the future not only for our brand but for sightseeing here in London.”
As part of its fleet renewal programme, The Original Tour will be gradually converting its buses to zero-emissions vehicles, with three more electric buses planned to arrive in 2019.
