First Bus orders 126 BYD ADL buses to bring Glasgow fleet to 150 electrics
In the largest order to date for electric buses in Scotland, Alexander Dennis and BYD confirmed that it will supply First Bus with a further 126 zero-emission buses for Glasgow, comprising 91 double-deck and 35 single-deck buses, all part-funded by the Scottish Government.
The BYD ADL partnership has won the order from First Bus after the operator’s bid for funding in the latest round of Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme. The successful bid awarded First Glasgow £24.3million, and First Bus has committed to spend a further £35.6million in a total order worth more than £59million. Using BYD’s battery electric driveline technology, ADL will assemble the buses at its factory in Falkirk.
First Bus has opted for 91 BYD ADL Enviro400EV double-deck buses, each of which will be 10.8m long, and 35 single-deck BYD ADL Enviro200EV with a length of 11.6m each. The new buses will all be introduced to the Glasgow city bus network by March 2023.
They will join two BYD ADL Enviro200EV that have been operating since January 2020 as well as 22 similar single-deck buses ordered in February 2021 for delivery ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate summit, taking the company’s electric bus fleet in Scotland’s largest city to 150 vehicles, all of which will be based at the operator’s Caledonia depot where they will be charged at night.
Janette Bell, First Bus managing director, says: “As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with the government’s ambitions for a zero-carbon bus fleet and have already committed to this by 2035. We will continue to ensure that our progress doesn’t just exceed the expectation outlined in the strategy, but that it also puts the expectations of our customers front and centre.”