UK's Arrival unveils pre-production prototype electric bus

Proterra

18/11/2021 06:00

By Nick Carey
    BANBURY, England, Nov 18 (Reuters) - British electric van
and bus maker Arrival  ARVL.O  on Thursday unveiled a new
prototype of an electric bus that it hopes to begin producing
next year to sell at around the price of a conventional diesel
bus.
    The pre-production bus will start running on roads within
the next few weeks, and series production is due to begin at a
plant in the U.S. state of South Carolina in the second quarter.
    In a tour of the bus for Reuters, company president Avinash
Rugoobur highlighted the fact that, because the batteries are in
the floor - some electric buses place them in the ceiling - the
bus has a skylight running the vehicle's length. The bus is also
low to the ground for easy passenger access. 
    The company uses lightweight but durable plastic composite
body panels rather than steel or aluminium to lower production
costs.
    Arrival's system monitors every vehicle component in real
time and can upgrade the software associated with any of them
wirelessly, Rugoobur said. 
    "Knowing and understanding how the vehicle is running in
real time and being able to optimise that further reduces your
fleet costs," he said. "All of this in a bus that is cheaper
than any other electric bus out there and competitive with
diesel."
    Depending on the market, electric buses can cost up to 50%
more than a diesel equivalent.
    Arrival's earlier prototype buses have already been
undergoing trials with First Bus  FGP.L , one of the UK's
largest bus operators. 
    Arrival says around 12% of the 64,000 vehicles it currently
has non-binding orders or letters of intent for are buses. Its
South Carolina plant should have annual production capacity of
10,000 units and executives say they will announce more plants
soon. 
    The electric bus market is heating up as countries, states
and cities push towards zero-emission transport. 
    Companies like California startup Proterra Inc  PTRA.O  are
vying with China's BYD Co Ltd  002594.SZ , or Volvo AB
 VOLVb.ST . Switch Mobility, a British unit of commercial
vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd  ASOK.NS , said this week it
would provide 300 electric buses to the public transport agency
in the Indian city of Bengaluru.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2S70NT
    The U.S. Congress has just approved $1 trillion in
infrastructure spending that includes $5.25 billion for electric
buses through 2026, dwarfing the $130 million the government
spent on electric transit bus programs in 2020.
    Mike Ableson, head of Arrival's North American operations,
said that funding will help make electric buses more affordable
for cash-strapped local authorities - but that the company's
goal of producing a zero-emission bus for the same price as a
diesel bus will change that equation anyway. 
    "Transit agencies won't have to worry about additional
funding, they'll just be able to start buying electric buses
instead of diesel buses," Ableson said.

 (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7385 414 954;))