York to have country’s first fully electric Park & Ride fleet
York is set to boast the country’s first fully electric Park & Ride fleet after securing funding for 24 brand new emission-free buses.
City of York Council has been awarded £3.3 million funding from the Department for Transport’s ‘Low Emission Bus Scheme’ for high capacity, fully electric buses and hyper charging points following a national competitive bidding process.
18 new double deckers and 6 new larger single deckers will be match-funded through the scheme.
They will join the 11 existing electric buses during the new Park & Ride contract starting in 2018, along with three new electric buses which were already planned for the service.
The additions to the fleet will mean that 35% of all York’s bus journeys will be on ultra low emission vehicles.
The double deckers have a 200kWh battery capacity and will be capable of running all day on a charge through most of the year, with hyper charging points to boost the distance buses can travel between full charges.
State of the art ‘Pantograph’ charging system will offer 5-minute, hands free charging.
Councillor Ian Gillies, executive member for transport, said: “This is truly exceptional news for the entire city, and a further step towards our goal of a fully electric bus fleet for York"
Councillor Andrew Waller, executive member for the environment, said:
See here for more information on York’s Park & Ride