Yutong has shown a second-generation U11DD battery-electric double-deck bus that meets Transport for London requirements and will allow it to enter that market via compliance with the contracting body’s Bus Safety Standard.
The vehicle is a development of the existing U11DD. It includes a flat floor in each saloon with improvements to the layout at the rear of both via a repackaging exercise.
Dealership Pelican Bus and Coach advises that the new version will be sold to all customers, not just Transport for London contractors. The example shown at Busworld is a seed single-door example. Revised design aspects having been led by feedback from the UK. Buses will continue to be completed by Pelican after arrival here.
Energy storage of 417kWh will be fitted, Head of Yutong UK Ian Downie has clarified. Some of that is now mounted around the chassis thanks to use of thinner packs. He adds that a single-motor arrangement will continue to be used in production buses.
Development of a next generation of the Yutong U11DD that suits London follows success for Pelican with the initial variant, which was first seen in 2023. Around a year later, First Bus ordered 127 of the type as part of a larger deal for Yutong electric products. Several other buyers have also taken the U11DD.
Battery-electric products in left-hand drive sitting alongside the latest U11DD at Busworld are the T14E battery-electric coach, which is the equivalent to the UK’s GTe14; and the U12 and U15 buses. The latter is a 15m, tri-axle model has 663kWh of energy storage and deliver a claimed range of 850km under SORT2 conditions, Yutong says.
Completing the show line-up is the IC12E, a 12.7m interurban low-height battery-electric coach. It debuted earlier in 2025 and is built in left-hand drive form; 465kWh of battery capacity gives a claimed 675km range when tested under SORT2.
The manufacturer’s latest generation of battery technology has also been highlighted. Yutong Europe CEO Jack Li used Busworld to explain how it forms part of the wider Yutong EV Long-life Tech approach being rolled out. He says that the new battery is designed for a 15-year/1.5 million km life while not falling below 70% state of health.
The Yutong Europe chief adds how the Long-life Technology platform uses a flat-wire motor with a 20-year/two-million km design life. The manufacturer notes how low resistance and hairpin winding technology “greatly improve motor efficiency and reliability.” A seven-in-one controller is also incorporated.
