BYD aims to replace Routemaster with 400-mile EV London bus

Date:

Charging is possible at up to 500kW via a pantograph (overhead) connection, but conventional ports are fitted for conventional rapid charging in depots and at public stations – with the possibility to connect more than one charger at a time to boost speed.

BYD remains tight-lipped on precise commercial objectives and volume projections, given the sensitivities around public transport tendering processes, but BYD UK’s commercial vehicle managing director Frank Thorpe said he “hopes” it can replace Wrightbus’s New Routemaster as the default London bus.

That 13-year old hybrid double-decker – commonly known as the Boris Bus, in reference to Boris Johnson, who backed the project while serving as mayor of London – ended production in 2017 and is due to be phased out over the coming years in line with the city’s goal to have an all-electric bus fleet by 2030.

“We genuinely believe it’s a game-changing product in terms of its efficiency, safety and commercial appeal. We believe it’s going to be significant,” said Thorpe.

He stopped short of giving any sales predictions but said: “We’ve had a fantastic reaction from operators and stakeholders – the Department for Transport, Transport for London – and we’re now going to prove what we say.

“That’s the key: we can say all sorts, but we’ve got to prove that is the best bus for the UK public, taxpayers and stakeholders.”

The BD11 will arrive as a double-decker in the third quarter of 2024. A single-decker will follow a few months later and then a ‘provincial’ double-decker with a lower roof will land towards the end of 2025.

The BD11 has been revealed just as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has predicted the “UK’s bus market could be the first vehicle sector to decarbonise”.

The SMMT said more than 40% of the UK’s single- and double-deckers are now zero-emission and “buses are leading Britain’s race to transport decarbonisation as Europe’s biggest market for the very greenest road passenger vehicles”.

However, it noted, more than half of all electric buses are being delivered to London, despite the fact that the capital accounts for less than a sixth of the UK’s bus market.

It said: “The benefits, from improved local air quality and reduced noise pollution to a more enjoyable passenger experience, are unevenly distributed.”

The SMMT has called for greater support for fleets of all sizes to go electric – a challenge it said is made particularly difficult by the tight operating margins in this sector and the fact that passenger numbers fell sharply when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.

Felix Page

Felix Page

Title:
News and features editor

Felix is Autocar’s news editor, responsible for leading the brand’s agenda-shaping coverage across all facets of the global automotive industry – both in print and online.

He has interviewed the most powerful and widely respected people in motoring, covered the reveals and launches of today’s most important cars, and broken some of the biggest automotive stories of the last few years. 

used BYD cars for sale

BYD Seal 390kW Excellence AWD 83kWh 4dr Auto

BYD Dolphin 150kW Comfort 60.4kWh Auto

BYD Atto 3 60.48kWh Design Auto 5dr

BYD DOLPHIN 60.48kWh Design Auto 5dr

BYD ATTO 3 60.48kWh Design Auto 5dr

BYD Seal 230kW Design 83kWh 4dr Auto

BYD Atto 3 150kW Comfort 60kWh 5dr Auto

BYD Atto 3 60.48kWh Design Auto 5dr

BYD Dolphin 60.48kWh Design Auto 5dr

Next

Prev

Powered By



Newsletter

Get all the best car news, reviews and opinions direct to your inbox three times a week. You can unsubscribe via any email we send
See our full privacy notice for more details

Subscribe

Never miss an issue of the world’s oldest car magazine – subscribe to Autocar magazine today.

Subscribe

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

I ditched Squarespace for this platform with no fees

Skip to content Image: StackCommerce TL;DR: Save 77% on a DoRoyal...

Do smartphones eavesdrop on conversations? New evidence says yes

Skip to content Image: Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock.com You’ve probably already noticed...

Baldur’s Gate III adds native game mods on PC

Image: Larian Studios Baldur’s Gate III was an absolute smash...

Get this RTX-powered HP laptop with i9 CPU for $400 off today

Image: HP Powerful gaming laptops can be pricey, so we’re...