All about electric buses

Charging into the future of bus travel

The West Midlands aims to lead the green revolution and become a net zero carbon economy by 2041. As a leading transport company, we are thriving to make that happen and we have already committed that our UK bus fleet will be fully zero emission much earlier, from 2030.

Electric buses have been in operation on our services in the West Midlands and Coventry area from 2020. With the recent announcement of Coventry becoming the UK’s first all-electric bus city, our brand new zero-emission buses are set to enter into service next year.

In the first 12 months our 29 electric buses clocked over 850.000 miles and saved 1400 tonnes of carbon dioxide going out into the atmosphere. 

Interested in finding out more about electric buses? Read our handy electric guide below.

So what is an electric bus?

The electric buses we operate are Built in Falkirk by Alexander Dennis. Electric buses charge up in four hours, and can run for 220 kilometres in the winter, and 280 kilometres in the summer before needing another charge

Why is electric better than a standard diesel bus?

So you are probably thinking, why are electric buses a whole lot better than normal, diesel fuelled buses. Let us explain:

Our electric buses produce zero carbon emissions at the tailpipe and are powered by renewable ‘green’ energy - even the heaters run off the battery! This means that no nasty fumes into our local communities and atmosphere.

A shed-sized battery, a charging station for each bus, and a new system for engineers to monitor the buses’ performance have been implemented at the garages. This is a new skill that our team have had to learn and adapt to, which helps shape future learning, developments and job prospects for our staff in the future.

Along with our hydrogen buses, electric is the next step to upgrading our buses to become fully zero emission from 2030.

Our National Express group vision is to become the UK’s most sustainable bus and coach company and our electric buses get us another step closer. Enjoyed learning more about our buses? Read more on our zero emission buses and sustainable bus travel.