Stagecoach, the UK’s largest bus and coach operator, and leading e-fleet solutions provider VEV have announced the successful delivery of the companies’ first third-party charge out of the Nuneaton bus depot in Warwickshire.
Home to 45 high-powered EV chargers and a new solar power system, the Nuneaton depot put VEV’s award-winning smart charging and digital energy management platform to the test with an electric HGV.
The trial sets the scene for a future of more shared charging infrastructure following plans announced by Stagecoach to give businesses access to its charging infrastructure during off-service hours earlier this year. The company’s ambition is to create a secondary income stream while helping to decarbonise the wider transport ecosystem across a variety of use-cases, including HGVs, last-mile delivery, refuse collection and blue light services.
Image: Stagecoach Midlands
Marvin Smith, Head of Solutions Sales at Stagecoach said: “This is a huge step forward for the team as we continue to test and refine our offer before rollout more broadly. What we’re building is truly unique, with wide bays that offer plenty of space for large vehicles, clean infrastructure and no queues.”
This latest milestone forms part of a wider regional electrification project from VEV to support the introduction of 150 new electric buses across depots in Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby and Chesterfield. In addition to the new chargers, solar power generation has been installed at Chesterfield, Leamington and Nuneaton, reducing reliance on the national grid with forecast lifetime savings of more than £1 million.
Simon Cubitt, Commercial Director for Bus and Coach at VEV said: “We couldn’t be prouder to be supporting Stagecoach with their ambitions for B2B charging as a key opportunity to help offset the costs of electrifying their fleet, while helping other operators to start their own EV journey.
“Stagecoach has truly been leading the way to create an infrastructure network that serves the entire transport industry and the surrounding communities. We can’t wait to do more!”
