Alexander Dennis (ADL) has announced that its next-generation Enviro400EV electric double-decker has completed the Zemo Partnership’s zero-emission bus testing and certification programme at UTAC’s approved test facility at Millbrook Proving Ground. The testing confirmed an average energy consumption of 0.67kWh per kilometre across the standard UK Bus Cycle testing, making the next-generation Enviro400EV the most efficient battery-electric double decker tested to Zemo Partnership standards to date.
The UK Bus Cycle represents a mix of common operating conditions with separate phases modelled on inner urban, outer urban and rural routes. ADL says that thanks to its use of the heavy-duty version of the Voith Electrical Drive System, the Enviro400EV is extremely efficient across all parts of the cycle including the demanding inner urban element, which ensures operators will be able to minimise their energy costs even on highly intensive services in such as in London. Combined with the Enviro400EV’s ‘future-proof’ battery system, which is supplied by Impact Clean Power Technology and allows 88% of its 472kWh capacity to be used, the 0.67kWh/km energy consumption in the UK Bus Cycle gives the electric double decker a theoretical operating range of up to 620km (385 miles) on a single charge.
Alexander Dennis Group Engineering Director, Chris Gall, said: “Our next-generation Enviro400EV’s energy efficiency of 0.67kWh/km sets a new benchmark and is testament to Alexander Dennis’s lineage and strength in designing innovative products meeting the needs of the UK bus industry. The result demonstrates not just to the expertise of our fantastic engineering team who designed and developed the bus – it also confirms the efficacy of the system of zero-emission bus testing overseen by the Zemo Partnership. The process encourages us and our fellow UK manufacturers to continually raise the bar, bringing down customers’ operating costs through reduced energy consumption and ensuring the transition to zero-emission technology is both sustainable and profitable.”
In addition to demonstrating the Enviro400EV’s exceptional energy efficiency, its Zemo zero-emission bus certification also shows that its well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions when charged with UK grid electricity are 84% lower than those of an average Euro VI diesel equivalent vehicle, representing a substantial net reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions.
Over 150 next-generation Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV have been ordered to date by customers including Stagecoach and Transdev, with deliveries of the first completed vehicles now said to be imminent.
