London to boast Europe's largest electric bus fleet by the end of 2016

London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced the introduction of 51 more electric buses for the city which will mean it will have Europe's largest E-bus fleet by the end of 2016. The Mayor says the moves are the first steps towards all 300 central London single deck buses becoming zero emission.

 

Currently Nottingham City Council is leading the way with Europe's largest bus of 45 vehicles in service, with 13 more set to come into service over the coming months. By the end of 2016, the greater london area will have 78 electric buses in operation.

 

The Mayor announced that routes 507 and 521 will exclusively run a 51-strong fleet of all-electric buses by the end of the year. He said that this is part of an ambitious campaign for a dramatic improvement in of air quality in the capital. Combined with 22 all-electric buses already running in outer London, it will take the capital’s entire fleet of electric buses up to 73 – the largest in Europe.

 

The move to the all-electric single-deck buses, made in Britain by Chinese company BYD and British manufacturer ADL, will eliminate NOx emissions on the routes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over two thirds, according to the LowCVP's Low Emission Bus certification scheme. The buses will also be the first to include screens showing the next five stops and how the Tube and Overground is running, as well as 12 seats with USB sockets to help passengers charge their phones.

 

London currently has around 2,000 hybrid electric buses, representing around 20 per cent of the fleet, and one purely electric route.

 

In addition, there are eight zero emission hydrogen buses operating in London and TfL is trailing inductive charging technology that enables diesel-electric plug-in hybrid buses to charge their batteries wirelessly while they wait at bus terminals.

 

TfL has also accelerated the introduction of ultra-clean Euro VI emission level buses with more than 1,500 in service.