Nottingham City Transport is taking delivery of 48 new electric buses, the first 12 of which are already in service.
UK Yutong importer Pelican Bus & Coach says it is delighted that Nottingham City Transport (NCT) has ordered a total of 48 E10 and E12 electric buses. The first 12 vehicles, all 12-metre E12s, were unveiled at NCT’s Trent Bridge depot, with attendees from key stakeholders Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Transport, Pelican and Zenobe.
The buses are the operator’s first zero-emission battery-electric buses, the company having operated a large fleet of gas-fuelled buses.
Ian Downie, Head of Yutong UK at Pelican, commented: “This is a significant step for Nottingham City Transport on its journey to zero-emissions. The Nottingham team has challenged us to produce a customer-centric vehicle, and we are extremely proud of what has been achieved. The vehicles are fitted with full colour front destinations, luxury trimmed high backed seating, new swept hand poles, illuminated bell pushes, and our electric air conditioning system for maximum customer comfort.”
NCT Managing Director David Astill said: “The delivery of these buses from Yutong represents the exciting start of our journey to a battery-electric fleet, with a target to replace all of our remaining diesel buses in the next four years. We are keen for our customers to enjoy the experience of travelling on our new emission-free vehicles, and we have been impressed by the flexibility and enthusiasm offered by Pelican and Yutong to build a bus with coach-like comfort to a challenging specification set out by the NCT team. We are currently undertaking a comprehensive familiarisation programme for our drivers and engineers and both are full of praise for these new buses. I am confident our passengers will be equally impressed.”
The remaining 36 vehicles will be delivered in two further batches, with 12 due in April and the remaining 24 in March 2025.
