The first-ever zero-emission bus fleet in West Yorkshire has been unveiled in Leeds.
The nine Yutong E10 EVs represent a multi-million pound investment by First Bus in partnership with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Council.
The electric buses will begin operating this week on the Service 5 Halton Moor Circular, which includes the Leeds CityBus route through the city centre and will run every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday.
Total investment in the buses and charging infrastructure is £7.3m and includes £1.7m funding from the UK Department of Transport’s Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme, which First West Yorkshire secured in 2019 with the support of WYCA.
Paul Matthews, managing director of First West Yorkshire, said: “These all-electric buses will enable us to capitalise on the bus priority measures that have just been introduced in the city centre, helping to create cleaner air, reduce congestion and give customers reliable journey times in superior comfort.”
Each Yutong E10 can carry 70 passengers (currently restricted due to social distancing) and has a range of 200 miles from one overnight charge, which means they can operate on the network all day without recharging. Smart battery technology on-board also enables the bus to store energy generated when applying the brakes.
It is estimated each bus will save 45 tonnes of carbon emissions a year compared to a Euro 6 diesel-engine bus, making a total annual saving of over 400 tonnes of CO2 by the nine-strong fleet.
The vehicles, which feature a new-look Leeds City Electric branding, also feature audio-visual next-stop technology, USB charging points, wi-fi connectivity, LED lighting and are fully air-conditioned.
To compensate for the low noise level when moving, the Yutong E10 has a special acoustic vehicle alerting system fitted that sounds to help waiting passengers with hearing or visual impairment as the bus approaches a stop. It also has a BusEYE early warning device to improve road safety with other vehicles and pedestrians.
The Yutong E10 EVs are supplied by Pelican Coach & Bus, which is based in Castleford and is the exclusive distributor in the UK for the Chinese-made buses.
Charging infrastructure for the fleet has been installed at First’s Hunslet Park depot in the city by Zenobe Energy. A battery energy storage system (ESS) comprising two 498kWh and 390kW Tesla batteries will support the power requirements including fleet charging and grid services.
The ESS is powered by the grid but returns electricity to support the grid when charging the buses.
