The final zero-emission vehicle in Oxford Bus Company’s new electric fleet has gone into service, representing a major milestone for the city.
It means Oxford Bus Company has rolled out 104 electric vehicles onto the road as part of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint in Oxford.
The vehicles are used on its city fleets, BROOKESbus service and City Sightseeing Oxford open-top tours.
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Luke Marion, managing director of Oxford Bus Company, said: “This ground-breaking investment and roll out of our all-electric city fleet is already delivering lower emissions, quieter and smoother journeys, and better air quality for our city.
“It has been a tremendous achievement to roll out so many buses over such a short space of time.”
The bus company phased in its electric vehicles over a nine-month period, after the first of the fleet went into service in November.
Oxford Bus Company also installed an electricity substation at its Cowley depot to support the rapid charging of the electric buses.
(Image: Fortitude Communications) EV fleet specialist Zenobe installed 104 chargers into the depot. A full charge takes three to four hours and each vehicle can travel for up to 200 miles on a charge.
The Go-Ahead Group, the parent company of Oxford Bus Company has a target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2035 and becoming a net-zero company by 2045.
The 104 electric buses will save more than 4,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year in Oxford and are currently travelling an average of 70,000 zero-emission miles every week around the county, preventing more than 35,000 litres of diesel being burned each week.
Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said: “I’m so thrilled to see these beautiful vehicles gliding noiselessly around our city instead of the diesel vehicles they have replaced, making the air we all breathe significantly better.
“Their presence demonstrates how the county council is backing its ambitions with political and financial capital, alongside our partners, to deliver a safer, cleaner, greener, better county for residents and visitors. Together with policies such as traffic filters to hugely increase bus efficiency, we are delivering on our vision of a better future.”
The county council is planning to introduce six new traffic filters – camera-enforced bus gates – across Oxford but it has been forced to delay their introduction because no end date has been announced for the closure of Botley Road at the rail bridge while station improvement work continues.
(Image: Fortitude Communications) Last year Oxford Bus Company, owned by the Go-Ahead Group, in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and Stagecoach signed a deal to collectively introduce 159 electric buses into service. The county council was awarded £32.8m from the government’s Zero
Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme and contributed £6m directly, while bus operators invested £43.7m.
The charging hub at Cowley House was installed by Zenobē, the UK’s leading fleet electrification specialist, and are powered by EDF Energy’s Oxford Superhub network.
In 2020 Oxford Bus Company introduced the first electric bus to Oxford via its City Sightseeing Oxford fleet.
A city council air quality report recently revealed NOx emissions from buses has decreased by half since 2013. Buses now contribute less pollution than cars in Oxford city centre.
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About the author
Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here.
He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.
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