Wrightbus business NewPower will carry out its first electric-to-electric repower project with the fitment of new drivelines to 28 Optare Metrodecker EV battery-electric double-decks operated by Metroline.
That will see the buses processed at the NewPower plant in Bicester and replacement of existing axles, powertrains, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.
OEM Kreisel batteries will be replaced by energy storage from CATL. The Vehicle Electrical Drive System from Driventic – formerly Voith – will be at the centre of the overhaul, while Grayson will provide the replacement HVAC fitment.
Optare – later Switch Mobility – built the Metrodecker EV with 300kWh of battery capacity, according to a Zero Emission Bus certificate issued by Zemo Partnership in 2023.
Those with Metroline have been plagued with reliability and range problems. 31 were originally supplied to the operator from 2019. It is understood that many have been out of use for several months.
Repower of existing battery-electric buses by NewPower represents a development of its existing efforts on converting mid-life diesel buses to zero-emission, work that so far has predominantly been carried out for First Bus. Another supplier has already repowered a batch of Optare Versa EV buses via the fitment of new drivelines.
Wrightbus Group Managing Director Sales John McLeister says that repower work with Metroline will see “gold standard equipment” installed into the Metrodecker EV fleet “to maximise performance and efficiency.”
Adds CEO Jean-Marc Gales: “This latest deal increases the orders for NewPower to 64 for next year, already above the 50-plus we will have delivered in 2025, and makes NewPower the largest repower specialist in Europe.”
Metroline is one of three London operators to use the Metrodecker EV. Two other customers outside the capital also purchased the model although none have been built since 2021. Closure of the Sherburn-in-Elmet plant that manufactured Optare and Switch Mobility products was announced by owner Ashok Leyland earlier in 2025.
