Wrightbus’ ‘Streetdeck Hydroliner Gen 2.0’ was developed over four years as part of a project which was 50% funded by a grant from the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

The British bus and coach market saw massive growth of 70.1% from 4,932 in 2023 to 8,390 registrations in 2024; the best annual performance since 2008, according to statistics published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The post-pandemic growth of the British truck market ended in 2024, with registrations of heavy goods vehicles (i.e., trucks >6t) falling by 2.7% compared with the year before, according to statistics published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The GBP 3.5 million investment opened its doors on February 13 and will exclusively train apprentices for the DAF brand, with 500 individuals confirmed to attend courses in its first year.

The Enviro500EVs for the MTR Corporation are complete Alexander Dennis vehicles (chassis and body) manufactured by a contract manufacturing partner in Zhuhai.

The new site includes a workshop, office space and a parts facility capable of servicing and maintaining both DAF ICE and electric trucks. The site was relocated due to the proximity to the A40, M40 and M25.

In early 2023, a new name was introduced to the commercial vehicle industry: “Accelera by Cummins”. It was the result of eight separate acquisitions made by parent company Cummins Inc over a period of as many years, all of them connected, albeit in different ways, to zero-emission technology. Naturally, Cummins wished to differentiate its new purchases from its ongoing engine business, and it is not the only legacy manufacturer to attempt a rebrand for its electric vehicle products (a la General Motors’ “Brightdrop” and Shyft Group’s “Blue Arc”). But it also aims to weld its acquisitions together into a single, cohesive unit capable of delivering “end-to-end electric solutions”. Molly Hale – who is the marketing communications manager for Accelera – explained: “There was this belief that we needed to have an identity all our own, to go to the market and explain the depth of the commitment and the depth of the investments in these technologies.”

The aim of the project is to convert, rather than replace, current engines on the road, which would negate the need for “significant investment in supply chain manufacturing and assembly infrastructure”.

Following the acquisition, Oxa stated that Street Drone’s expertise in “industrial logistics” and “proven drive-by-wire, vehicle integration and teleoperation” would complement its own software development.

On 30 September 2024, Britain’s last remaining coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar was closed down. Opened in 1968, the power station had a capacity of 2,000 MW and annual carbon emissions in the millions of tonnes when it was decommissioned. Today, local authorities and consortia have new ambitions for the old plants: to repurpose the existing infrastructure for the production of green hydrogen. That was the message carried away by news reporters who attended an open day at the Loughborough University campus on 8 November. Visitors got to see some mature products of the transition taking place in the east midlands. These were the fuel-cell-powered vehicles displayed by Intelligent Energy Ltd in front of its headquarters on the edge of the campus.

Tickets are now available for the 2025 RTX Expo (June 24 – 26), which will be held at the NAEC Stoneleigh in Warwickshire.

“Despite substantial investments, including GBP 25 million in UK government grants, the vision of vehicle manufacturing has failed,” the British startup said in a press release announcing its change of strategy.