Wrightbus launches re-powering service for electric buses
The goal is to electrify fleets without operators having to purchase new (electric) buses, essentially lowering the cost of electrification. Re-powering a bus will cost around 200,000 pounds. Wrightbus hopes that since the price is considerably low, operators will consider converting mid-life bus fleets, meaning that they won’t wait until older diesels will have to be replaced anyhow.
During re-powering, the diesel engine is swapped out for a Voith Electric Drive System (VEDS), NMC battery packs, and a Grayson HVAC system. Moreover, it only takes three weeks to convert the buses. NewPower engineers can work at up to six units simultaneously. That means, the company could potentially convert as many as 500 buses per year.
“While we are selling new hydrogen and battery-electric buses all over the world there is a huge market of mid-life buses which, once converted, can have an immediate impact on helping to improve air quality in towns and cities up and down the UK,” says Wrightbus CEO Jean-Marc Gales. “We have long been recognised as the world-leading manufacturer of both hydrogen and battery-electric buses and now NewPower will add another string to our bow.”
Of course, the service is available only for Wrightbus models. The NewPower facility is located in Oxfordshire at the former headquarters of Arrival, an EV company that recently went bankrupt. This new undertaking will initially create 22 new jobs. Wrightbus expects 65 staff to work at the site by the end of the year.
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