VEV Supports Stagecoach’s Bus Electrification
VEV supports Stagecoach’s Bus Electrification with high-power charging, solar power & control platform

VEV is building high-powered DC charging infrastructure for over 150 electric buses across four UK depots: Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby, and Chesterfield.
Solar power generation will be installed at Chesterfield, Leamington and Nuneaton, reducing reliance on the national grid with forecast lifetime savings over £1 million.
The project supports Stagecoach’s decarbonisation strategy which involves acquisition of new electric vehicles (EVs), along with significant depot and infrastructure upgrades across the country.
Stagecoach is piloting a B2B charging hub in Aberdeen to maximise utilisation of charge points by offering them to third parties when buses are out of depot.
VEV has installed its digital platform VEV-IQ to manage the hub – charger scheduling & status, power demand & usage – and optimise efficiency for all parties.
Stagecoach joined VEV in Bogotá, Colombia to see best practice bus electrification at scale at a large 100% electric bus project built by VEV’s sister company VGM.
VEV, the e-fleet solutions provider backed by Vitol – a world-leader in the energy sector – has announced its work with leading bus operator Stagecoach, to accelerate its bus electrification programme.

In support of Stagecoach’s decarbonisation strategy, VEV was appointed to build high-powered DC charging infrastructure across four UK depots. The infrastructure will power 150 electric buses in Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby, and Chesterfield.

Taking the initiative further, VEV will also install solar power generation at the Chesterfield, Leamington and Nuneaton depots. This innovative approach will harness sunlight during daytime hours to reduce Stagecoach’s reliance on the national grid for its power. The project has an estimated, predicted lifetime cost saving of more than £1 million for Stagecoach, demonstrating the economic viability of the transition to electric fleets.

In a parallel development, Stagecoach is trialling the use by third parties of the charging infrastructure at its electric bus depot in Aberdeen. The goal is to maximise utilisation of the high-powered DC chargers when buses are out during the day. If successful, the hub will extend to another depot in Aberdeen and one in Perth, totalling 54 charge points.

The chargers will be managed through VEV’s smart charging & digital energy management platform VEV-IQ, which will monitor and optimise power usage and charging scheduling for the charge points. The VEV-IQ software will maximise charger utilisation and the overall efficiency of Stagecoach’s valuable charging assets in the hub.

Mike Nakrani, CEO of VEV said:

“We’re delighted to support Stagecoach’s sustainability goals. Our collaboration marks a notable step towards sustainable public transport in the UK. By combining innovative technology with strategic infrastructure, we’re creating a more environmentally friendly and efficient bus network.

“The shared charging hub in Scotland highlights the need and potential for cross-sector collaboration to expand sustainable transport options and offset the costs of transitioning to electric for commercial fleet operators. Making the switch from diesel to EV requires careful planning and optimisation to be successful not just at the point of delivery but throughout the lifecycle of the bus. At VEV we recognise these complexities and take a digital and data-first approach to EV fleet operations, which is why we continue to invest heavily in our VEV-IQ platform to develop its data-science capabilities.”

The collaboration between VEV and Stagecoach is also drawing on global best practice with a recent visit to a large 100% electric bus operation in Bogotá, Colombia, built by VEV’s sister company, VGMobility.

This state-of-the-art facility showcases the full potential of electric bus operations across 3 depots, 400+ buses and 21 360KW DC superchargers with 8 connectors per charger. The project has not only delivered new, clean, and efficient vehicles but also proved the electrification business case with cost-efficient operations fully financed over 15 years. The VEV-IQ platform is in the process of being installed to the facility.

Claire Miles, CEO of Stagecoach said:

“The trip to Colombia was extremely useful and I learned a great deal from being there. I was particularly impressed by the clean, quiet electrified depot and the scale of the operation. Seeing first-hand the power of digital technology to run a huge 100% electric fleet was enlightening. The depth of VEV’s expertise in this field was a key draw for Stagecoach, and we’re pleased to work with them on our electrification projects, leveraging their global experience to drive our sustainability goals forward.

Heliox & First Bus Accelerate a Zero-Emission Future
Heliox and First Bus Accelerate a Zero-Emission Future with Five New Charging Depots Funded by £89 Million Investment

Heliox and First Bus are collaborating on five new electric bus charging depots in Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Minehead, Taunton, and Basildon.
First Bus invests £89 million to expand electric fleet across the UK – connecting rural communities and inter-urban routes.
First Bus will expand their charging network to 14 depots with more than 800 electric buses by 2025.
Heliox, a leading provider of rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging systems, and First Bus, one of the UK’s largest bus operators, are announcing a significant expansion of their collaboration with the development of five new electric bus charging depots.

These depots will be strategically located in Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Minehead, Taunton, and Basildon, and have been made possible thanks to an £89 million investment from First Bus and supported by the UK Government’s ZEBRA 2 funding programme.

The announcement builds on the successful partnership between Heliox and First Bus, unveiling the UK’s largest electric bus depot (capable of charging 178 vehicles simultaneously) ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021.

Since then, the two companies have continued to work together to deliver a network of nine operational electric bus charging depots across Scotland (Glasgow Caledonia, Glasgow Scotstoun and Aberdeen) and England (York, Leeds Bramley, Leicester, Norwich, Portsmouth Hoeford, and Summercourt Cornwall). In Summercourt (Cornwall), the charging hub is the first-of-its-kind for the bus industry, providing direct access for the public to rapid charging infrastructure for electric cars and vans.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with First Bus on their journey towards a zero-emission fleet,” said Stephen Wood, Heliox Country Manager UK & Ireland. “The huge £89m investment from First Bus and support from the ZEBRA 2 funding programme has enabled us to play a vital role in accelerating the transition to electric public transport, particularly in rural areas. These new charging depots will be instrumental in achieving this goal.”

Faizan Ahmad, Decarbonisation Programme Director, First Bus said: “These projects mark another significant milestone in our commitment to a zero-emission bus fleet across the UK. Our partnership with Heliox has enabled us to electrify our depots and introduce cutting-edge electric buses, delivering cleaner air and a better passenger experience.

As a leader in sustainable transport, we’re committed to working with both central and local governments to support national decarbonisation goals and encourage more people to choose bus travel.”

First Bus’s £89 million investment will see 178 new electric buses deployed across four regions. This initiative is further accelerated by a £16 million grant secured through the UK Government’s ZEBRA 2 scheme in partnership with local authorities. The latest round of funding allows First Bus to expand its electric bus network together with Heliox, bringing the benefits of clean air and reduced emissions to both rural communities and inter-urban routes.

Innovative Charging Infrastructure

Heliox and First Bus have collaborated closely to design their depots as innovative, dual-purpose facilities that optimise space efficiency. These depots not only serve First Bus’s electric fleet, but also offer electric charging to local businesses – making EV charging more accessible to the wider community.

As pioneers in electric bus depot infrastructure, the partnership has also implemented cutting-edge cable management solutions with remote-controlled overhead gantries – ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable charging operations at their depots. The use of overhead gantries minimises any loss of parking and allows cables to be lowered automatically to the vehicles. By sharing infrastructure and adopting advanced technologies, First Bus is leading the way in creating sustainable transportation solutions.

Combined Impact

With a combined capacity to charge over 190 vehicles simultaneously, these five new depots will play a crucial role in First Bus’s journey towards a zero-emission fleet.

Upon their opening, Heliox and First Bus will have collaborated on 14 electric bus charging depots. First Bus will have around 800 electric buses on completion of these projects – marking a huge step in the company’s pledge to operate a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2035. 

Heliox and First Bus are committed to accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in the UK with zero-emission transportation. For more information, visit www.heliox-energy.com/zebra-funding

H2Accelerate collaboration explores the cross-sectoral benefits of linking industrial and mobility hydrogen projects

The H2Accelerate collaboration has today published its latest whitepaper on linking hydrogen mobility projects with industrial hydrogen hubs. This whitepaper analyses the future ‘European Hydrogen Network’: locations where hydrogen will be produced, imported, transported, and used by industry, and explores the benefits of cross-sectoral collaboration and co-location to both industrial and mobility hydrogen projects.

Linking Hydrogen Mobility with Industrial Hubs

The H2Accelerate collaboration anticipates that by 2030, there will be large-scale supply of renewable hydrogen in Europe linked to four key drivers: large-scale electrolysers, renewable hydrogen demand, import terminals, and hydrogen pipelines. Together, these components will form the ‘European Hydrogen Network’. The collaboration recommends co-locating early hydrogen refuelling infrastructure with the European Hydrogen Network to take advantage of:

Lower cost of hydrogen due to economies of scale and reduced distribution costs.
Reduced risk of supply constraints due to increased system redundancies.
Viable business cases for HRS due to high utilisation from trucking in industrialised regions.
Accelerated decarbonisation of industrial supply chains by making low-cost hydrogen available to the freight operators contracted by industrial hubs.
The whitepaper found that the regions with the highest demand for trucking overlap with the European Hydrogen Network in northwest Europe. There is therefore a clear opportunity for hydrogen infrastructure providers to co-locate early HRS with the European Hydrogen Network to accelerate the sector through access to lower-cost, lower-risk renewable hydrogen.

Volker Hasenberg, Hydrogen Strategy Manager at Daimler Truck, said: “Hydrogen powered trucking will be suitable for highly flexible and demanding long-haul transportation. Trucks powered by liquid hydrogen for example offer ranges of 1,000 km and more, which means fewer refueling stations are needed to kickstart the hydrogen truck market. However, as long as hydrogen prices stay as high as today, finding customers will be challenging. Linking demand across sectors close to hydrogen clusters helps to overcome that hurdle: hydrogen production at larger scale and shorter distribution distances can bring cost down already from the beginning.”

Policy support to achieve deployment targets

The H2Accelerate collaboration expects hydrogen refuelling infrastructure to develop along the strategic TEN-T corridors where policy support for hydrogen mobility is strongest and with high volumes of freight transport, starting in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. The collaboration further identified policy recommendations to enable the rapid deployment of mobility linked to industrial hubs, including:

Identification of ‘Hydrogen Acceleration Areas’ to provide certainty on the locations of early hydrogen hubs in Europe to industry.
Funding joint deployment of hydrogen refuelling stations and hydrogen trucks within Hydrogen Acceleration Areas.
Providing simplified permitting processes for hydrogen production and refuelling within Hydrogen Acceleration Areas.
Providing dedicated funding to subsidise hydrogen used in road mobility via the European Hydrogen Bank.
National implementation of existing European policies to secure the long-term business case for hydrogen trucking.
With sufficient policy support to initiate the development of hydrogen trucking supply chains and the availability of large volumes of low-cost, reliable hydrogen, the collaboration believes that the full industrialisation of the hydrogen trucking sector can be achieved by 2035.

Hannah Bryson-Jones, Spokesperson for the H2Accelerate collaboration, said: “Hydrogen trucking will be required to achieve the overall 45% emissions reduction in heavy duty vehicles by 2030 set by the EU Heavy-Duty Vehicle CO2 standards. The sale of hydrogen vehicles relies on end users’ ability to access low-cost, reliable hydrogen. This latest whitepaper from the H2Accelerate collaboration outlines an innovative strategy for co locating hydrogen mobility with industrial hubs to catalyse the European hydrogen trucking sector.”

The full whitepaper can be downloaded from the H2Accelerate website https://h2accelerate.eu/.