A private battery storage company is offering £120m of funding to accelerate the roll-out of commercial electric vehicle fleets.
Zenobe Energy is inviting local councils and bus operators to partner with it on electric vehicle projects.
Depending on requirements, Zenobe can own and operate batteries in the depot (which saves power in the grid), vehicle batteries and smart charging infrastructure, and charge customers on either a pence-per-mile basis or a fixed monthly charge.
It says this solution will ‘significantly reduce’ the upfront cost of zero-emission buses, making the price similar to diesel buses and lowering the total life cost by as much as 30%.
Zenobe says the fund will “significantly speed up the process of bringing zero-emission vehicles onto our roads, helping to improve air quality and to meet our legally binding carbon reduction targets.”
Its scheme can be used alongside grants from the Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme.
Steven Meersman, co-founder of Zenobe Energy, says: “Using our solutions, we can enable local authorities and operators to access a faster, cheaper and lower-risk way to transition to electric vehicles.
“We’re calling on organisations to work with us and provide the public with emission-free transport and last-mile deliveries now.”
Jonathan Murray, Policy and Operations Director at the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, says: “Many bus operators are looking to electrify their vehicles and are a key part of efforts to decarbonise road transport and improve air quality in some of our most polluted areas. Buses require a lot of energy, and this creates challenges – and opportunities – for the electricity grid.
“This initiative from Zenobe Energy should be an important enabler of efforts on the part of vehicle operators to switch to zero emission vehicles, while making the electricity grid smarter and more resilient at the same time.”
