Wrightbus has launched the StreetDeck Electroliner battery-electric rapid-charge double-decker. It has 454kW/h of onboard energy storage to give a 200-mile range and it can be recharged in two hours and 45min, the manufacturer says.
Wrightbus adds that the range will allow the StreetDeck Electroliner “to cope with all routes, whether urban or rural.” It says that the high battery capacity has not compromised the bus’s internal layout or its passenger-carrying potential, with batteries stored “around the bus.”
Comments CEO Buta Atwal: “We have gained a strong reputation for our hydrogen double-decker but we want to lead the world in zero emissions, full stop. Wrightbus has the best brains in the business when it comes to technology and our StreetDeck Electroliner puts us squarely at the front of the pack.”
Mr Atwal adds that Wrightbus “hasn’t weighed the bus down with a high battery volume just so we can say that it has got the most power or range; instead, we want it to be the most efficient vehicle on the road, so we have combined optimum power with a class-leading rapid charge, meaning our electric bus spends more time on the road than any other.”
Additionally, Wrightbus has launched a new telemetry system. It provides real-time feedback on performance, maintenance and CO2 savings and is christened WB Uptime 365.
The new product will enable all Wrightbus models – both diesel and zero-emission – to “stay at peak performance for longer, communicating with control rooms at the touch of a button via… 5,000 thresholds and sensors,” says the manufacturer.
The AI-based WB Uptime 365 provides real-time predictive data analysis. It can alert operators when a bus need preventative intervention, reducing maintenance costs. Significant input has been received from the 250 drivers of First Aberdeen during development, says Wrightbus Group Director Ian Gillott.
“We have developed and perfected the telemetry while on the ground in Aberdeen. It is a real credit to Aberdeen City Council and FirstGroup that they have embraced this new technology so readily, putting the city firmly and historically on the zero emissions map.
“We set out with an over-cautious approach in Aberdeen, to ensure that we responded to every issue regardless of how minor it may have been. You have to remember that these buses were a world-first, and it was always going to take some time for them to bed in.
“But the last few weeks have been a revelation, not only in how we have been able to support this bedding-in period on the ground but the way that everyone at FirstGroup has responded so positively. Adoption from drivers has been fantastic, especially as many of them had only ever driven a diesel bus, and they have been enormously helpful in assisting us to iron out driver-related issues.”
