When I visited Nottingham City Transport (NCT) this month (page 34), I was told the operator is committed to only buying zero-emission vehicles from now on. This is despite the major investment it has made in Alexander Dennis-bodied Scania gas double-deckers since 2017, and the fact that it has not been successful in its bid for Zebra 2 funding to support further electrification of its fleet.
With 62 diesel double-deckers still in the fleet and no certainty over when funding will be secured to help replace them, the operator could face challenges when it comes to keeping its fleet age down in the future. Perhaps a significant breakthrough will be made to reduce the capital cost of electric buses.
The situation is not helped by the fact that the Scania gas chassis used for NCT’s gas fleet is no longer available to purchase. While not zero-emission, it is still an improvement over diesel and would have been a more desirable option than new diesels.
Also this month, you will find an article on the history of hybrid buses (page 26), which concludes with Polish manufacturer Solaris calling the technology “a step on the road to electromobility”. It is clear that the technology is now considered obs…
