Electric fleet and battery storage specialist Zenobē has announced an extension of its working relationship with Newport Transport, where it will be installing 16 new charging points, made up of eight double-headed chargers, to provide further support to the operator’s fleet of 32 electric buses. The addition will allow Newport Transport to have all of its electric buses on the road at the same time, enable dynamic charging strategies and provide greater charging flexibility for future fleet expansion.
The extansion builds on the established working relationship between Zenobē and Newport Transport. The two began working together to bring Wales’ first fleet of electric buses into service in 2020. With the total number of electric buses in the fleet at 32 since June this year, but with no means to charge them all at the same time overnight, the further charging points will mean all buses can now be on the road at once. The electric fleet now makes up 43% of Newport Transport’s overall fleet, which the operator believes is the largest ratio of electric to diesel buses in a fleet outside of London.
Zenobē worked with Newport Transport to build the new charging infrastructure and has upgraded the grid connection at the depot to support the increased energy demand. It also provided financing for the infrastructure, the batteries on the Pelican Yutong vehicles, and any replacement batteries required in the life of the contract. It has also implemented its end-to-end software solution to manage fleet charging and optimise the resulting power requirements.
Steven Meersman, co-founder and Director of Zenobē, said: “Scott and the team at Newport Transport were the first to work with us on our battery-on-the-bus-as-a-service and charging service model, when we jointly expanded the impact of their successful grant from the UK Government from two to seven vehicles with our then new funded service model. I am delighted to see that intent of partnership expand to a fleet that is over 40% electric, with plans to extend this further – a milestone and an example.”
Managing Director at Newport Transport Scott Pearson added: “I’m so pleased that this partnership has allowed us to act on our commitment to the environment and sustainable public transport for citizens. We are leading the way in Wales, with our EV fleet improving air quality and CO2 emissions across the city and surrounding areas. We at Newport Transport are excited for further collaboration with the team at Zenobē, as we work towards our vision of a net zero fleet in the near future”.
