British Bus Operator First Bus Confirmed to Trial Arrival’s Single-Deck Electric Bus

I was checking my Twitter feed and a Tweet emerged from Arrival that their single-deck electric bus will be trialled by First Bus.

From Arrival Press Release

LONDON, Feb 22, 2021 — Arrival, the company creating electric vehicles using its radical new technologies, today announced that it will begin trials of its zero-emission Bus with First Bus, one of the UK’s largest transport operators. The trials, which will see Arrival buses navigating existing First Bus routes in the UK, will begin this Autumn. The new partnership comes just seven months after First Bus announced their commitment to purchase no diesel buses after 2022 and to operate a fully zero- emission fleet by 2035.

First Bus already plays a leading role in the operation of low or zero-emission vehicles, with electric buses in Leeds, Glasgow, the country’s biggest electric Park&Ride fleet in York and a 99 strong fleet of biomethane buses in Bristol. Last month, the company also introduced the world’s first hydrogen powered double decker fleet in Aberdeen. Arrival unveiled its electric bus last June, creating a new and improved public transportation experience for all users – from the drivers and passengers to the engineers, cleaners and fleet owners – and reducing operating costs for operators, making the transition to electric vehicles more economically viable. The initial trial vehicle configurations will be a combination of familiar requirements and new innovative features, which will be activated throughout the trial and made possible by Arrival’s smart connected hardware and end-to-end fleet management solutions.

The single-deck Arrival Bus features a single front door with a passenger seating capacity of 36 across the entire flat floor, allowing greater accessibility, as well as more usable standing space and ability for passengers to travel more comfortably. It is equipped with up to 310.8 kWh of energy storage capacity with the option of both an AC and DC charge. The Arrival Bus has been developed to not only have common suspension front and rear, but common wheels and tyres – estimating the bus to be up to 40% lighter than other battery-electric buses in the market today.

Arrival’s vertically integrated approach allows it to develop innovation at pace without the constraints of waiting for technology progression in the supply chain. This enables a best-in-class product, with a superior Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than both fossil fuel and electric vehicles currently on the market.

Janette Bell, Managing Director of First Bus said: “As leaders in sustainable mobility, we’re excited to announce our partnership with Arrival, helping us bring some of the most innovative zero emission vehicles on the market onto the UK’s streets for our customers and partners. We’re proud to be the first operator in the UK to trial Arrival’s electric buses and look forward to working together to accelerate the transition to zero emissions in our sector. Their ground-breaking technology is also expected to allow for improved customer service, and we’re looking forward to seeing how customers react to the new buses when they’re trialled later this year.”

“Today is an important day in the transition to a more sustainable, user focused transportation ecosystem and we are thrilled to be partnering with First Bus on this trial and for people to experience the Arrival Bus on public roads,” said Avinash Rugoobur, President of Arrival. “Cities around the world are pledging their commitment to a zero- emission transportation future and Arrival is providing them with the ideal product to help them achieve that in the Arrival Bus. We are working in partnership with operators and cities globally to support improvements to public transportation networks whilst creating vehicles that can be tailored to local needs.”

The announcement comes in the year UN Climate Change conference COP26 will be hosted in Glasgow.

At the moment there’s no mention of the area First Bus is expected to trial Arrival’s single-deck electric bus, so we’ll have to wait for further announcements from Arrival and First Bus.

I’m subscribed to Arrival’s newsletter and they featured questions in their ‘r/AskArrivalAnything’ section; on volume 7 of their newsletter they featured one very interesting question to which they answered:

Although you're still in early stages with your single-deck electric bus prototypes, when do you plan to manufacture New Routemaster-style double-deck electric buses for the London bus market, and to help London retain their iconic 'London Bus' symbol?

London is one of the many global cities we are looking to work with. At present we are focused on getting the single decker bus into production at the end of this year, but our modular design allows us to rapidly produce different variants quicker than a traditional OEM, so watch this space!

It’s interesting that Arrival’s new innovation will be able to produce different variants of their single-deck and double-deck electric buses; no doubt they will adopt design cues from the New Routemaster bus.

Here are the rest of the questions answered in volume 7 of Arrival’s newsletter:

#AskArrivalAnything Will you open internship or Recent Graduates positions in London anytime soon?

We have just started our first trial graduate scheme in the UK and hope to roll out further programmes in the future. Please submit your CV on our website if you are interested in taking part.

Hey Arrival! Why did the slab faced van design change? It looked so good!

The new design allows us to rapidly create a range of custom variants for different use cases - this is crucial for the commercial market where customer needs vary a huge amount. Until now, products on the market have given customers little opportunity for customisation. That being said, we still love the Alpha design too and perhaps we will see that again in the future.

You can submit your question to Arrival on Social Media (Facebook and Twitter) by tagging #AskArrivalAnything.

In other news, Alexander Dennis has announced that Hong Kong bus operator Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) has ordered 58 Euro 6 Enviro500 MMC tri-axle double-decker buses.

Photo provided by Danny Chan

From Alexander Dennis

Alexander Dennis Limited (“ADL”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), one of the world’s largest independent global bus manufacturers, today announced that Hong Kong’s largest bus operator The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (“KMB”) has ordered 56 Enviro500 three-axle double deck buses. The new buses are scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2021.

KMB is the largest franchised bus operator in Hong Kong with a fleet of around 4,000 buses operating on over 400 routes. KMB’s new Enviro500 will be 12.8m long and powered by low emission Euro 6 engines. They will be able to carry up to 143 passengers, with all 98 seats fitted with three-point safety belts.

This new order continues a long-standing relationship between Alexander Dennis and KMB, who have now ordered over 2,500 Enviro500 buses from Alexander Dennis since the current generation model was launched in 2012.

Paul Davies, Alexander Dennis President & Managing Director, comments: “We are very honoured that KMB continues to place its confidence in Alexander Dennis with this latest order for 56 double deck buses. KMB continually challenges us to raise the bar and these latest 12.8m Enviro500 buses are testament to their commitment to world class passenger services.”

As you can see, KMB has adopted the glazed staircase on their recent double-deck bus purchases from Alexander Dennis, MCV bus and Wrightbus, which is a key styling cue adopted from the New Routemaster.

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