Ballymena-based manufacturer Wrightbus is now offering electric repowers of diesel buses as part of a new enterprise called NewPower.
Taking place in a dedicated facility in Bicester, the repower process retrofits a new battery, drivetrain and HVAC system to existing diesel vehicles and can be completed in around three weeks.
NewPower makes Wrightbus the first OEM to introduce zero-emission repowers in this sector. Wrightbus says its introduction will help speed up the decarbonisation process and replace diesel powertrains with zero-emission ones at around “half the price” of a new zero-emission vehicle. Throughput of the facility is six buses at a time, giving a processing potential of 500 vehicles per year.
A typical process strips the old drivetrain while retaining the vehicle’s existing axles at GVW 18,000kg. A Voith Electric Drive System and an NMC Forsee Power Zen 77+ battery system comprise the new drivetrain and power supply. The latter uses 77kWh modular battery packs making 308kWh in four-pack or 385kWh in five-pack guise. The maximum usable capacity of the batteries is 80% while charging is via a 150kW DC charge rate using CCS2.0. Integrated with the existing HVAC unit is a Grayson Thermal Heat Pump. Anticipated range at half capacity for the four and five pack repowers is 143 miles and 178 miles respectively. A full OEM warranty is included in the work.
The new battery packs are fitted to the rear of the vehicle and contained within the existing engine compartment. A sliding cradle houses the packs meaning the complete system can be more easily removed from the vehicle. Additional packs are located in the main saloon floor over the nearside front wheel arch and are housed within a fibreglass cover that integrates with the existing wheel box.
Passenger capacity is marginally lost with the additional battery packs. When total passenger capacity of an existing diesel bus takes into account 73 seated and 22 standing for a total of 95 passengers, a four-pack system removes capacity for six passengers (five seats in the rear upper deck and one standing) while a five-pack repower costs twelve (five seated in the rear upper deck and seven standing).
Vehicles currently available for repower include all diesel and hybrid variants of the Wrightbus StreetDeck, the Wright-bodied Gemini 2, all variants of the New Routemaster, and other “competitor bus models”. Calling the business model eminently scalable, hints have already dropped that buses are only the start for the repower facility, and that Wrightbus sees a market for repowering other medium and heavy duty vehicles beyond the coach and bus sector. It has also noted that it plans to expand into Europe.
A typical 17-year total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis shared by Wrightbus predicts that a Streetdeck NewPower comprising a Euro VI diesel converted to EV after seven years  returns a TCO on parity with a new Euro VI diesel, and when excluding OPEX rebates, A 340kWh battery-electric vehicle. TCO predictions of converting diesel to NewPower include a 41% reduction in maintenance costs, 17% reduction in energy costs, and a 13% increase in OPEX rebate availability.
In addition to providing a warranty on completed work, Wrightbus points to other advantages that being an OEM brings to repower services such as homologation and MoT testing taking place in its own facilities.
“While we are selling new hydrogen and battery-electric buses all over the world there is a huge market of mid-life buses which, once converted, can have an immediate impact on helping to improve air quality in towns and cities up and down the UK,” says Wrightbus CEO Jean-Marc Gales. “We have long been recognised as the world-leading manufacturer of both hydrogen and battery-electric buses and now NewPower will add another string to our bow.”
Wrightbus reports that the NewPower facility will create 22 jobs immediately with 65 further staff expected on site by the end of 2024.
“The business is growing very fast and I am really proud of what we have achieved over the last 12 months because every order, whether home or abroad, guarantees jobs back in Ballymena,” adds Mr Gales. “We believe we are the number one zero-emissions bus maker in the UK. A year ago, we had 200 zero-emission buses on the road. Today, we have over 900 and in the next year we will get to 2,000. No-one else comes close.”
