Big Rig Manufacturing will assemble both diesel Enviro500 and battery-electric Enviro500EV Charge models.

Mellor Bus was just another vehicle conversion specialist before it started taking Ducato vans and installing them with electric powertrains. Now, according to Gustavo Marqueta-Siibert, Group Business Development Director for Mellor’s parent, WN VTech Ltd, Mellor is challenging the major European bus manufacturers in segments and applications which have thus far been neglected in the transition to electric vehicles.

At the Resource & Waste Management Expo –one of four shows presented under the ‘Environmental Services & Solutions Expo’ banner at the NEC Birmingham between 11-12 September – T&BB was informed that new regulations for waste collection in the UK were already impacting the market for waste collection truck bodies and equipment.

The exhibition, which took place from the 6th to the 7th of September, attracted over 150 exhibitors involved in low-carbon mobility. The exhibition had a small collection of companies dedicated to the commercial vehicle market sector.

ADL announced that the Plaxton (Panther & Leopard) coaches are to be built on the Volvo B8R chassis with a choice of I-Shift (automated manual) and automatic transmissions. These coaches are set to be built at ADL’s Scarborough plant, which ADL says, “benefits from a flexible set-up that allows lines to be switched between coach and bus production.”

The XB and XB Electric are set to replace the LF and LF Electric, with the XB Electric expected to go into series production in week 45, 2023, in Eindhoven.

The project aims to build a commercially competitive 44-tonne proof of concept Hydrogen Fuel Cell (HFC) heavy goods tractor unit. With funding from the UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre, project ICEBreaker is set to begin next month (October 2023) with the aim of developing lighter, more efficient hydrogen fuel cell Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) with a lower cost of ownership.

Around GBP600m has been committed by KKR & Co Inc, and a further GBP270m is being invested by one of Zenobē’s existing shareholders, Infracapital.

The funding is being allocated to the government’s Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA, now ZEBRA 2) Scheme, initially launched in 2021 to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding for zero-emission buses and supporting infrastructure.

The IE-Drive 100 hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) utilises the company’s “patented evaporatively cooled (EC) technology”, whilst the hydrogen fuel cell stack delivers 155kW of power. In terms of the architecture, the design is centred around ‘blending’ the desired performance with the space constraints of LCVs. IE stated the HFC is currently being tested with various UK partners.

The funding is to come from the Department for Transport (DfT), National Highways, HS2 Ltd, Network Rail and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Following the framework sale of the e-Jest electric shuttle bus in the right-hand drive market in Japan earlier this year - Karsan is now exploring entry into the UK market with first deliveries planned for 2024.