Tag Archives: electric buses

London To Buy 100 Electric Buses From China

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Philip Bratby

From TimeOut

Cleaning up London’s air is clearly on the agenda of London’s newly re-elected mayor Sadiq Khan – and those emission-reducing ambitions were recently re-affirmed with the news that the city’s ‘Boris Buses’ are getting the boot.

And wow, we’ve got more London bus news. The Mayor just approved a deal between Go-Ahead Group (a UK transport company) and Chinese automaker BYD to build over 100 electric double-decker buses for London’s streets.

Each of the buses will apparently cost around £400,000, which is supposedly around £100,000 cheaper than what can be offered by UK suppliers.

However, the deal is not without its controversy. According to City AM, back in 2021 the United Nations wrote to BYD stating it had ‘received information’ that the company’s supply chain involved ‘alleged forced labour, arbitrary detention and trafficking of Uyghur [Muslims] and other minority workers’.

In response to that, TfL’s head of bus business development Tom Cunnington said: ‘We have been assured by the manufacturer that no unethical practices have taken place and would act immediately if provided with evidence to the contrary.”

https://www.timeout.com/london/news/london-is-getting-a-brand-new-fleet-of-electric-double-decker-buses-052024

We’ve been assured? Well BYD would say that, wouldn’t they!

I suppose we should not complain that TfL are saving money. The real question is how much cheaper would a diesel bus have been?

One US study suggested diesel would be about two thirds the price of an electric bus, while Wright, who make buses, quote typical costs from between £250,000 and £500,000.

I suspect though that TfL would have been bragging if they had actually saved money, so I think we can assume they have paid well over the odds.

Britain’s e-bus ticking timebomb: How nearly TWO THOUSAND electric buses worth £800m face urgent recall over fears they could see burst into flames

The Driver Vehicle Standards Agency issued the emergency recall of 1,758 buses. A fire risk has been identified in the £800m fleet’s aircon and heating system.

Safety watchdogs have ordered the recall of almost 2,000 electric buses over fears they can catch fire if left unattended. 

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has warned operators who use the Alexander Dennis Enviro200 and Enviro400 single and double decker buses of the critical safety issue. 

The buses are currently operational across the UK, with more than 600 in London and a further 100 in Manchester.  The Daily Mail Online has the story.

All of the affected vehicles were manufactured between May 3, 2019 and February 6, 2024. They all contain batteries supplied by Chinese firm BYD.  

Initial investigations suggest the fault may be in the air conditioning and heating system. The alert was issued following a scare on board one of the buses – which can cost up to £450,000 each – putting the value of the entire fleet at £800m.

At present, there is no permanent solution to prevent future fires. Instead, operators using the high-tech buses are warned to ‘switch off the Hipsacold HVAC system when the vehicle is left unattended’. 

To remind drivers to isolate the power supply were they allowed to pay 

Alexander Dennis told MailOnline they are working on the problem with regulators and their suppliers. They stressed the issue is not related to a string of recent fires involving ‘different vehicle types and technologies’. 

In September 2021, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced that all new buses in London would be ‘zero emission’.  

As of March 31, 2023 – most recent figures available. London had a total of 476 of the buses subject to recall in their fleet.

A further 100 of the same bus type has been supplied to Manchester as part of their move to electric buses. 

Although, according to the DVSA there are almost 1,800 of the affected vehicle type on British streets. 

Certain routes in the capital are now entirely electric as part of Sadiq Khan’s commitment to reduce harmful emissions in the city. 

Cities such as Coventry, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Glasgow and Aberdeen also use the buses.

In London they are fitted a dedicated wheelchair space that is accessed via and electric ramp on the centre doors. 

The vehicles are powered by a pair of 150kW motors from BYD on the rear drive axle. 

They contain BYD Lithium-iron-phosphate batteries providing between 339kWh to 382kWh of power and are recharged at a rate of 112kW using a DC CCS2 plug.

Read the full story here.