Over 1,000 examples of the Voith Electrical Drive System (VEDS) have been deployed in zero-emission buses for UK customers and the OEM says that figure will “increase sharply” in the future via established partnerships with Alexander Dennis and Wrightbus.
VEDS is used by both vehicle manufacturers in all of their battery- and hydrogen fuel cell-electric models. Each has previously noted the efficiency of VEDS and Voith claims that the product has shown itself to be better in that respect than all competing systems.
The supplier also credits government funding frameworks for zero-emission buses in the UK that are clearer and more reliable than those in any other European country as a significant contributor to sales success here, according to Vice President Sales EMEA Commercial Vehicles Holger Seefelder.
He adds that an early focus on rural areas via the second phase of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas fund in England is “remarkable” and that those developments are positive, not just economically but ecologically.
Wrightbus expects to install VEDS into more than 1,000 zero-emission buses during 2025, while Alexander Dennis is planning to build around 500 Enviro400EV battery-electric double-deckers with the unit next year.
To demonstrate its confidence in VEDS’ efficiency, Voith points to energy consumption testing done by Zemo Partnership on both the Enviro400EV and the Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner battery-electric double-deckers.
They are in first and second places in the double-deck class for efficiency, with the Enviro400EV returning 0.67kWh per km with 472kWh of battery capacity and the StreetDeck Electroliner delivering 0.68kWh per km when equipped with 340kWh of storage.
While VEDS is the focus of Voith’s efforts in zero-emission for now, it says that the established DIWA NXT gearbox would work with a hydrogen combustion engine. That transmission’s core application is in diesel- and gas-fuelled buses, where Voith claims it delivers a 16% fuel saving over other models.
More on the Voith Electrical Drive System here.
