NEWPORT Bus will be able to have its whole fleet of electric buses out on the roads at the same time as another 16 charging points will be installed.

Zenobē has today announced that another eight double-headed chargers will be installed at the depot, taking the total number of charging points to 32.

This means that all of Newport Transport’s electric buses can charge overnight, meaning they can all be out on the road during the day.

Newport Transport brought its first electric buses in to service in October 2020, before the fleet was expanded to 32 in June.

The electric fleet now makes up 43 per cent of Newport Transport’s overall fleet, which the largest ratio of electric to diesel buses in a fleet outside of London. 

Zenobē has worked with Newport Transport to install the new chargers and has upgraded the grid connection at the depot to support the increased energy demand.

It also provided financing for the infrastructure, the batteries on the Pelican Yutong vehicles, and any replacement batteries required in the life of the contract.

Scott Pearson, managing director at Newport Transport, said: “I’m so pleased that this partnership has allowed us to act on our commitment to the environment and sustainable public transport for citizens.

“We are leading the way in Wales, with our EV fleet improving air quality and CO2 emissions across the city and surrounding areas.

“We at Newport Transport are excited for further collaboration with the team at Zenobē, as we work towards our vision of a net zero fleet in the near future.”

Steven Meersman, co-founder and director of Zenobē, said: “Scott and the team at Newport Transport were the first to work with us on our battery-on-the-bus-as-a-service and charging service model, when we jointly expanded the impact of their successful grant from the UK government from two to seven vehicles with our then new funded service model.

“I am delighted to see that intent of partnership expand to a fleet that is over 40 per cent electric, with plans to extend this further – a milestone and an example.”