Heliox and First Bus announce plans to build five new UK e-bus charging depots
By Luke Willetts - 19th November 2024
E-bus charging depot
UK / Netherlands – After previous successful collaborations in electrifying bus charging depots, Dutch EV charging company, Heliox BV (a subsidiary of Siemens AG) based in Best, Netherlands, and UK transport operator First Bus have announced plans to roll out five new bus charging depots across the UK (Bristol, Weston-Super-Mare, Minehead, Taunton, and Basildon). GBP 16 million of the GBP 89 million investment has been provided by the UK Government's ZEBRA 2 support funding scheme. Heliox will provide its Rapid 150 kW (kilowatt) chargers which are capable of fully charging a bus in 2.5 hours. This will support the rollout of 178 new electric buses across these regions.
Once completed, this will mark 14 electric bus depots developed in collaboration between First Bus and Heliox. This will support a First Bus fleet of over 800 e-buses operated in the UK. This is also another significant step in the operator's pledge to run a fully zero-emission fleet by 2035.
