Reptons Coaches of Surrey is to consider making EV charging facilities available to the public on an ad-hoc basis.
The coach and bus operator, which this month embarked on the zero-emission path with a new Yutong E9L, hopes allowing third parties to simply turn up and pay via payment card at the charger will make best use of the infrastructure while its vehicles are in service.
First Bus has already made chargers at its depots in Glasgow and Summercourt open to the public. In July, it unveiled its First Charge identity while announcing it would expand the established arrangement for in-contract third-party businesses and fleets to 15 of its depots by the end of this year.
Reptons Coaches owner Andy Repton says his plans to offer EV charging to the public are in the early stages. “Dave West (Westway Coaches Director), who was very instrumental in helping us go electric has done it and he showed me how it was done,” he says.
“At the moment, our feed is big enough to charge two or three buses,” he says.
“We have a substation next door, and we have a quote to put in a new separate power supply so we can put high-power chargers in. We’ve got ideas and we just hope they come to fruition. There are safety aspects to be looked at and we’re going to speak to the council. We’re not just rushing into things. It will take time.”
Health and safety concerns around allowing the public onto depot facilities is a potential inhibitor to operators opening up chargers to the public. However, Mr Repton adds: “We have a car park at the front which we would keep clear for that reason.”
Michael Kennedy, CEO at EV charging installation specialist Envevo, says offering a public EV charging service is worth considering despite complications.
“For some operators, it might be feasible,” he says. “But depots can be busy all day and can have 100 people working at them. So, you’re bringing in an additional risk when you just allow the public to turn up whenever they want to.
“Operators are spending a lot of money on this infrastructure, so they want to generate income from it, but they also need to kind of consider how that impacts their ongoing operations. But it can be done.”
He says that, for most operators, the best option would be to make use of newer software which allows the public to book specific slots in advance rather than arriving ad hoc.
Meanwhile, Reptons Coaches is looking to electrify its whole bus fleet – currently numbering four vehicles – following the launch last week of the new Yutong from Pelican Bus and Coach. The purchase of the small bus was supported by funding from Surrey County Council.
“We’re probably the smallest operator that has gone electric and, if we can do it, anyone can do it,” he says. “I don’t understand why, if they’ve had grants from the council, more aren’t taking it up.”
When it comes to the Yutong, which will be used on some of Reptons’ six routes in north Surrey, Mr Repton is delighted with the outcome. “They’ve done an exceedingly good job on it, the workmanship is really good,” he says. “The help that we had from Yutong and Pelican Bus and Coach was second-to-none.”
