Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD UK jointly announced today that their electric vehicle partnership will supply over 130 zero emission double deck buses to EV fleet and battery storage specialist Zenobē and bus operator National Express, and support these vehicles with spare parts over a period of 16 years. The buses will help to make Coventry the UK’s first all-electric bus city.
The deal will see over 130 BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck electric buses, all manufactured in Britain by ADL in partnership with BYD, enter service in Coventry from early 2023 as a part of the city’s successful bid to become the country’s first all-electric bus city and take it a huge step closer to replacing around 300 diesel vehicles by 2025.
Zenobē will be providing Electric Transportation as a Service (ETaaS) to National Express, financing and managing the full turnkey solution that includes new BYD ADL vehicles, on-board battery replacement, charging and grid infrastructure, a second life battery system at the depot, unique software to optimise charging, parts, and full operational support.
As part of the agreement, ADL will supply Zenobē and National Express with spare parts for planned preventive maintenance (PPM) over a period of 16 years from acceptance of the vehicles.
The work builds on ADL and Zenobē’s existing work with National Express, previously providing charging infrastructure and batteries for 29 BYD ADL Enviro400EV electric buses in Coventry and Birmingham in 2020. The project will be financed partly through the partnership between Zenobē and National Express, with some investment also coming from a £50 million grant from the Department of Transport, awarded to the West Midlands Combined Authority for Coventry’s all-electric bus city scheme, enabling the public purse to go further.
