A further zero-emission bus to have begun a journey from London to Glasgow ahead of the COP26 climate change conference is a BYD ADL Enviro400EV. It has embarked upon an 11-day Road to Renewables tour that will showcase the people and places driving a transition to net zero.
The battery-electric double-decker departed from Go-Ahead London’s Northumberland Park depot, which is one of Europe’s largest overnight charging points for battery-electric buses, on Monday 18 October. Northumberland Park is also home to the Bus2Grid project, which could enable vehicles to put power back into the national grid at times of high demand.
The Enviro400EV’s trip north is the fruit of a partnership that involves Go-Ahead, SSE, the two vehicle OEMs and Swarco Smart Charging, which is powering the bus. The Enviro400EV will showcase examples of the national effort already being made to decarbonise.
It will call at Oxford, Lowestoft, Peterborough, Nottingham, Manchester Harrogate, Newcastle and North Berwick. One of its stops in Manchester will be at Stagecoach Manchester’s Sharston depot, which is home to 32 Enviro400EVs.
Upon arrival in Glasgow on 29 October, the Enviro400EV will open an official charging garage for the climate change summit.
SSE Distributed Energy Managing Director Nathan Saunders says that collaboration will be key to tackling the developing climate emergency.
“We are excited by all the people and projects that we are showcasing on our Road to Renewables. Our innovative Bus2Grid project that could see buses become two-way chargers is a great place to start our tour.”
Transport for London (TfL) Head of Bus Business Development Tom Cunnington adds that projects like Bus2Grid “are key if we are to decarbonise London’s bus network and support the wider national effort to reduce emissions.” TfL recently announced that all new buses procured by contractors on its behalf will be zero-emission and that London’s red bus fleet is on track to be entirely zero-emission by 2034.
Separately, Wrightbus has also commenced a zero-emission journey from London to Glasgow ahead of COP26, with a hydrogen fuel cell-electric StreetDeck Hydroliner. It too departed from the capital on 18 October and will make various stops on its way north.
