FlixBus and Whippet launched a battery-electric coach service between Cambridge and London on 13 August, using a Yutong GTe14 demonstrator provided by Pelican Bus and Coach as part of a six-week trial.
From 14 August, the vehicle will run on the existing FlixBus route between Cambridge city centre, Trumpington Park and Ride, London Finchley Road, and Victoria Coach Station.
Initially operating once per day, frequency will double from next week. In between 123-mile round-trips, charging will take place at Whippet’s Swavesey depot using infrastructure provided by Zenobe.
It follows a pilot this year of a battery-electric Yutong TCe12 for use on the FlixBus route between London and Newport.
That trial with Newport Transport, which took place from March until June, progressed successfully, says Andreas Schorling, Managing Director of FlixBus UK.
“It’s a great start on a long-term journey towards green technologies,” he says. “We ran the trial for the time set set out and we didn’t have any significant issues. So for us, it was important evidence that the technology can cover point to point.
“We’re happy now to take that journey to the next step and try this with a new vehicle with the latest technology. For us it’s a very natural progression.”
The trial builds on a three-year-long partnership between FlixBus and Whippet, whose pioneering work in zero-emissions has included electrifying the nine-bus fleet for the Universal bus service in Cambridge.
Jonathan Ziebart, UK Managing Director of Whippet parent company Ascendal, says: “It’s really good that we’ve put together a zero-emission service in Cambridge. We’ll be testing out the technology and the Zenobe infrastructure and are really looking forward to investing more heavily in the future into zero-emission transport.”
Tickets start from £2.99 and the vehicle features a toilet, free wi-fi and USB charging points. It is PSVAR-compliant. Zenobe has installed telematics onto the coach to provide feedback on performance as FlixBus bids to improve the environmental sustainability of its network.
Steven Meersman, Co-founder and Director of Zenobe, says: “With over 1,200 electric buses globally, we bring our extensive expertise in charging infrastructure, software and telematics to this eCoach trial with FlixBus and Whippet.
“We look forward to analysing data such as the charging profile of the vehicle and exploring how more coaches serving long-distance routes can be supported in the UK and around the world.”
Head of Yutong UK Ian Downie has welcomed the opportunity to place the GTe14 demonstrator into a further evaluation on scheduled services. “We are delighted that FlixBus and Whippet will be trialling our 3 axle electric coach. The vehicle is fully PSVAR compliant, and has a range in excess of 500kms on a single charge,” he says.
“It is a testament to the continued investment by Pelican and Yutong that we have not one but two zero-emission coach products available to the UK market. We look forward to receiving passenger and driver feedback from the trial.”
