Work with coach operators on battery-electric vehicles via the second round of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus (ScotZEB2) challenge fund shows how Zenobē is committed to engaging with that sector, Business Development Director Julia Meek says.
Ms Meek – who shared experience and knowledge on bus electrification in a Masterclass Theatre seminar at Euro Bus Expo – says that ScotZEB2 for coaches is expected to demonstrate to the wider coach industry that electrification is already a viable step in many cases with suitable infrastructure.
“We want to collect data to show how battery-electric coaches are cheaper over their lifetimes than diesels,” she adds. “ScotZEB2 is proof-of-concept for coaches. We want to work with operators in [our] consortium and show that [electrification] is commercially viable and successful.”
The first coach work born of ScotZEB2 is due to go live in December. That represents excellent progress. Ms Meek says it can only be achieved via collaboration, including with DNOs. She adds that SP Energy Networks and SSE “have been very good on these smaller projects.”
The ScotZEB2 work for coaches is a turnkey solution. Ms Meek adds that for coach operators considering a similar shift, a variety of funding options are available.
“We are committed to supporting coach and we are very excited to be working with several SMEs in that field in Scotland. There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit among them and for us all to have moved the ScotZEB2 coach project on so quickly is testament to everyone involved.”
While financing battery-electric coaches is currently not always easy, Ms Meek says that local authorities could greatly help their uptake via the award of longer-term home-to-school contracts for those vehicles. Zenobē supports that call.
In addition to large coaches, battery-electric minicoaches are also represented among vehicles that will be procured by ScotZEB2 winners. The first of those are understood to be approaching completion with what has been suggested as an innovative solution to achieve PSVAR compliance, as is required of vehicles that are part-supported by ScotZEB2.
