Coventry City Council has announced plans to add 50 new electric buses to its fleet as part of a scheme to become the first UK city with a fully-electric service.
This announcement is part of a wider £150m project to create the UK’s first all-electric bus city by 2025.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and the council have been collaborating on the scheme, with Coventry securing £50m from the Department for Transport (DfT) to expand charging infrastructure and add further electric vehicles (EVs) to operators’ fleets.
According to the local authority, these 50 double-decker buses are the first of up to 300 new vehicles due to arrive by 2025 as part of Coventry’s electric programme. It also claims that these buses bring the city’s electric National Express fleet up to 60 vehicles.
The bus operator has reportedly also invested more than £60m in making more than a third of its Coventry fleet electric, with another 80 buses intended for deployment in early 2023.
This addition aligns with the council’s goals to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions and to improve local air quality.
Jim O’Boyle, councillor and Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said: “We put the bid together and convinced the government that Coventry is the right place to become an all-electric bus city.
“Hitting a milestone of 50 new all-electric vehicles is fantastic and the city is really gearing up to creating the right infrastructure for the increase in zero emission vehicles.
“We are very proud to say that Coventry will be the country’s first all-electric bus city.”
A quarter of the council’s fleet is reportedly fully-electric now, with the city also being equipped with 607 chargepoints, which Coventry claims is more than any other UK city outside of London.
On the fleet’s expansion, Tom Stables, CEO of National Express UK, said: “Our vision is to become the UK’s most sustainable bus and coach company and it’s been great to see this month’s COP27 putting a real focus on how businesses can play their part in addressing climate change.
“More people using public transport has significant benefits for society including safer roads, increased access to opportunities, reduced congestion, improved air quality and more space in our cities.
“We’re proud and excited to be leading the way in making Coventry all-electric and are actively recruiting new drivers to join us in the green revolution.”
What’s more, TfWM plans to add further rail, bus, tram and cycle routes in support of its goal to become a net-zero carbon region in the next twenty years.
The West Midlands Bus Alliance has announced support for this ambition. This consortium includes bus operators such as National Express Coventry, Stagecoach and others working in partnership with TfWM, Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council to offer reliable bus services across the region.
