Jaguar Land Rover, one of Zeelo’s long-standing client partners, has completed its one-month trial of a battery-electric coach on its Gaydon site employee commuter service, a 40km round-trip service amounting to 1,586km each month.
Making the switch to an emissions-free employee commuter service across all existing routes would enable Jaguar Land Rover to reduce its own CO2 emissions by 2,500 cubic tonnes per year and contribute to its own commitment to become carbon net zero by 2039, the trial has concluded.
Zeelo’s CEO, Sam Ryan, states that the company’s mission is for all Zeelo smart bus commutes to be net-zero by 2030. The company is already taking steps towards this goal, with 5% of its services already being electric and a target of hitting 15% by the end of the year.
Zeelo’s nationwide roadshow this month aims to illustrate to its network of more than 200 bus operator partners the ease of use of electric vehicles for mass transit and reduce barriers to modernising bus fleets, such as high costs and concerns around distance achievable on electric-powered buses.
Key to the initiative is providing bus operators the chance to trial a Yutong TCe12 to measure the capabilities of electric vehicles in action before making a commitment to investing in a complete electric fleet. Zeelo has set in place a financing scheme where partial costs for making the switch to electric transport will be covered through an upgraded client contract, while enabling a preferential financing scheme for electric fleets and portable charging infrastructure provided to operators by Zeelo’s partner Zenobe.
The electric trial initiative has been made possible thanks to Zeelo’s new partnership program with Pelican, the UK’s leading importer and distributor of Yutong coaches and buses. Pelican has been part of Zeelo’s bus operator network since the latter began supplying fleets for services to Zeelo client McLaren.
Comments Joanne Hill, Leadership, Purpose and Talent Consultant at Jaguar Land Rover at Gaydon: “The free commuter bus service that Jaguar Land Rover runs between Gaydon and Whitley sites is easy to use, reliable and I like the fact that electric buses are now being considered by my employer. I know many people would opt to travel by electric bus and leave their car at home if such a service became readily available.”
Zeelo’s 2023 electric bus trials are designed to accelerate the transition to net-zero services across all existing diesel-powered commutes over the next seven years.
