Warwickshire has its first fully electric, zero-emission bus thanks to a partnership between National Grid and Stagecoach.
The air-conditioned bus, which runs solely on electricity, takes around four hours to charge and runs up to 370km before recharging. National Grid has contracted the company to run the electric bus on a dedicated service for employees. The free service, which transported around 460 employees every day before Covid-19 restrictions, is expected to cover 50,000km on the route annually, resulting in savings of nearly 30 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Transport makes up 23% of energy-related carbon emissions globally and National Grid has committed to an all-electric fleet in the UK by 2030.
Lorna McAtear, UK Fleet Manager at National Grid, said: “National Grid has an important role in enabling the rollout of future clean transport, so it’s important we keep leading the way with our own transport and fleet. It’s great to have Warwickshire’s first electric bus at National Grid, so we can encourage and support colleagues to reduce their impact on the environment too.”
Mark Whitelocks, Managing Director of Stagecoach Midlands, said: “We are delighted to be working with National Grid to provide the first fully-electric bus for Warwickshire and continue helping National Grid and our region travel more sustainably. We are proud of how we have invested in new, cleaner buses with ever improving emission standards in recent years.
“This is our first step towards an even greater movement to cleaner energy. We are committed to developing this further in the coming years, with our involvement in the Coventry all-electric bus town project, which will have wider benefits across Warwickshire.”
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