Zeelo’s latest venture will see operator partners from its growing network taking part in an EV trial as part of a roadshow to showcase electric coaches to potential new operators and users.
Switching to electric vehicles is a major investment for any business, but Zeelo says it is firmly committed to supporting the transition. As more and more companies seek out ways to reduce their carbon footprint in the face of rising environmental concerns, it is Zeelo’s hope that many organisations will adopt electric vehicles for employee transport services or school transport provision in the not-too-distant future.
As the world moves away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, the transportation sector itself must also make a modal shift, says Zeelo, of which electric buses and coaches are a key part, offering a number of advantages over traditional diesel or petrol-powered vehicles.
To that end, Zeelo, Pelican Bus & Coach and Zenobē have joined forces in order to provide their operator partners and customers the opportunity to trial a Yutong TCe12 electric coach over the next few months. The coach will be provided by Pelican, and supported by portable charging infrastructure supplied by Zenobē. This EV roadshow will allow operators to measure the performance of electric vehicles in action before making a commitment to electrifying their own fleets. Each operator will trial the electric coach for a period of four weeks to test the vehicle’s capabilities on existing Zeelo clients’ services as well as explore financing options.
Zenobē’s aims to address some of the obstacles that bus and coach operators may face, such as high upfront fees for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, as well as doubts about new technology, vehicle range and business models.
This ongoing roadshow will form part of Zeelo’s net zero strategy which aims to offer its clients the option to upgrade to a fully electric service, thereby reducing the CO2 impact of their journeys and improving air quality.
Zeelo says it is already committed to a zero-emission fleet in the UK and other developed markets by 2030. Currently 1.8 million commuters use Zeelo’s services daily in the UK, North America, and South Africa. A partnership with Climate Partner has already allowed Zeelo to reduce its carbon footprint; for each trip, 3.5 kg of CO2 emissions are offset via programmes like tree planting in Uganda or wind farm construction in Bulgaria — a total of up to 12,500 annually, which Zeelo says makes it the only bus service in Europe that is already entirely carbon-neutral.
