Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and BYD UK have jointly announced that their electric vehicle partnership, the UK’s leading electric bus producer, has received a firm order from First Bus for a further 126 zero-emission buses for Glasgow, comprising 91 double deck and 35 single deck buses. All are part-funded by the Scottish Government. The order is the largest ever for electric buses in Scotland.

The BYD ADL partnership has taken the order from First Bus after the operator’s bid for funding in the Scottish Government’s latest round of Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme was successful. Using BYD’s battery electric driveline technology, ADL will assemble the buses at its factory in Falkirk, ensuring the investment benefits the local economy in Scotland’s Central Belt.

First Bus has opted for 91 BYD ADL Enviro400EV double deck buses, each of which will be 10.8m long, and 35 single deck BYD ADL Enviro200EV with a length of 11.6m each. These new buses will all be introduced to the Glasgow city bus network by March 2023.

They will join two BYD ADL Enviro200EV that have been operating since January 2020 as well as 22 similar single deck buses ordered in February 2021 for delivery ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate summit, taking the company’s electric bus fleet in Scotland’s largest city to 150 vehicles, all of which will be based at the operator’s Caledonia depot where they will be charged at night.

Commenting on the deal Janette Bell, First Bus’s Managing Director said, “As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with the Government’s ambitions for a zero-carbon bus fleet and have already committed to this by 2035. We will continue to ensure that our progress doesn’t just exceed the expectation outlined in the Strategy, but that it also puts the expectations of our customers front and centre.”

Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director for First Glasgow, added: “We have led the way with bus operators in Glasgow as a key partner of Glasgow City Council for the country’s first ever LEZ rollout and this latest announcement helps us to deliver shared objectives and make up lost time due to the pandemic.”