Leicester City Council Announces Zero Emission Order With Pelican for 13 Electric Buses

There is a long standing plan to convert Leicester’s three park and ride services to zero emission electric bus operation.

 Following the Council’s successful Transforming Cities Bid to the Department for Transport, it has now placed an order for a fleet of zero emission electric buses to come into operation early in 2021.  

 As well as reducing bus exhaust emissions, the investment will also finance improved service frequencies. This is predicted to cut some 700,000 car miles each year from congested urban roads, as drivers are increasingly attracted to switch to electric buses at Birstall, Enderby and Meynells Gorse Park and Ride sites.

 Pelican are delighted to announce that we have been selected to provide 13 off Zero Emission buses to Leicester City Council, where they will be operated by Roberts Travel Group.

 After a comprehensive tendering exercise, the Yutong E12 was selected to operate these routes, based upon criteria such as vehicle performance, battery life, warranties and the total commercial proposition.

 The E12’s will be fitted with innovative features for passenger comfort such as full air conditioning, LED lights, USB charging points and state of the art passenger information systems. The smooth performance of the electric motor, with its quiet operation further enhances the passenger experience. The vehicles are fitted with 422kWh water cooled batteries, and due to the market leading energy efficiencies of the vehicle, the daily mileage of the operation was able to be met. The use of safe and fast DC charging also meant that the grid constraints were met, and ongoing cost of operation was minimised.

 Ian Downie, Pelican Head of Yutong Bus UK commented, “we are absolutely delighted to receive the tender award from Leicester City. Their exacting criteria for a proven zero emission bus, with detailed compliance to their vehicle and aftermarket specification, was met by our product and the team from Pelican Bus and Coach. There are over 103,000 Yutong zero emission electric vehicles in operation around the world, and we are looking forward to adding the Leicester vehicles to that number”

 Leicester deputy city mayor for environment and transportation, Cllr Adam Clarke, said: “Electric vehicles will play a big part in our work to improve the city’s air quality, and I look forward to these buses coming into service next year.”